How to survive on Dragon Island
by Marty the Martian
Summary: The Red Death is dead and Stoick's son is badly wounded but how can they return home when the fleet they arrived on is destroyed? Fortunately Vikings are strong and resourseful but how long will it take for them to become accustomed to working with their new dragon allies and will the whole tribe be able to accept the New Berk?
1. Chapter 1

How To Survive On Dragon Island

1 The Battle

The mountainous Viking chief sank to his knees.

"Oh son" His quivering voice was barely audible "I did this".

On the ground before him lay the black dragon, gravely injured. The creature Stoick had called 'Devil', the creature that embodied all that the Chief of Berk had hated for his entire life now looked back up him injured and unable to move. At any other time he would have not hesitated to kill it instantly but not today, not after what he had seen.

When Stoick has started on this path, it had seemed to be the right thing to use this creatures homing instinct against it. To use the dragon to find the long sought after nest and then, having found it, to destroy it utterly. Stoick's people had been fighting and killing dragons for hundreds of years and ever since the day he could first lift a battleaxe he had done his best to keep up with the tradition but today things had gone rather unexpectedly and he found the need to completely alter his point of view.

The memory of his sons warning echoed in his mind 'You don't know what you're up against, it's like nothing you've ever seen' but Stoick had not listened. Hiccup was only 14 and had no idea what he was talking about. As man and boy Stoick had seen his village destroyed time and time again, he had seen friends and family maimed and killed and his own beloved wife, the boy's mother carried off into the night never to be seen again. Stoick thought that he had seen it all... but he was wrong. What they had found on the island had shocked him to his very core. It appeared, to all who saw it, like a moving mountain; the smallest of its claws was longer than Stoick was tall and with one breath it had set every ship in the Vikings armada ablaze. It had even picked up one Longship in its jaws and crushed it completely into splinters.

Convinced that he would die that day, Stoick had decided that as chief he had no choice but to keep the giant dragon distracted by allowing it to hunt him for as long as he could stay alive thus allowing his people some chance of escape, however slim that chance might be.

The events that followed though almost surpassed the shock and surprise of seeing the giant dragon for the first time for just as the monster was about to attack, an explosion of flame erupted behind its giant head as four smaller dragons swooped around from behind it. Bringing up the rear of this group was a short and bulbous dragon called a Gronckle being ridden, to his utter surprise, by a large and bulbous Viking boy named Fishlegs. Ahead of this incredible sight were two more dragons. To the right, a Monstrous Nightmare; a large red dragon with long thorn like spines along its back, tail and wings being ridden by a muscular young lad who went by the name of Snotlout. To the left was the Hideous Zippleback; a green twin headed dragon being ridden by twin slow headed Vikings named Ruffnut and her brother Tuffnut.

Leading the group was a Deadly Nadder; a blue birdlike dragon with a large round head and a tail covered with long spikes that it could hurl like throwing knives with, as its name suggested, deadly accuracy. This dragon carried two riders; a small blonde girl named Astrid Hofferson and his own son Hiccup who lead the small band of... what? Dragon riders? What else could they be but Dragon riders? He could see the boy's arms waving and pointing as he shouted inaudible orders to the flying group then the boy suddenly swooped left while the others kept circling the beast's giant head, whooping and shouting while banging their swords and shields together to keep the monster distracted while also trying to keep out of its deadly reach.

Stoicks gaze however, was drawn to the Nadder carrying his boy and young Astrid. He had always thought of the Deadly Nadder as a large and fearsome dragon but now, having seen it flying around the head of the giant beast and towards the burning ships while carrying two of his tribe's children on its back, it looked like a small and somewhat frail creature. To Stoicks utter surprise, his son handed the rope that encircled the Nadder's neck to his flying companion and leapt off the dragons back on to the foredeck of the burning flagship but he soon realised why.

Stoick had recently bound the black Night Fury in chains, muzzled its mouth, locked a thick wooden stock around its neck and placed it on the foredeck of his ship. Hiccups protests had fallen on deaf, stubborn ears as Stoicks anger raged inside him. His own son, the heir to his position as chief had not only refused to kill a dragon but had defended them against his own fathers will in front of the entire tribe. Stoick had called the boy a traitor and disowned him and now that same boy was trying his best to save the very tribe that Stoick had led so close to destruction and it made him feel like a fool.

As Stoick ran to the ship he could hear his son's voice directing Astrid help the others and the blue dragon turned sharply and flew off into battle. He saw Hiccup pull the muzzle from the snout of the black, cat like Night Fury and start to pull at the chains. So intent was the Chief to reach the ship that he failed to notice the success the other Viking children were having in distracting the giant dragon. The angry beast twisted and turned in vain while attempting to rid itself of the bothersome pests and it's huge, mace like tail swept across the burning ships and it's leg came crashing down on the bow of the flagship breaking it off as the stern reared up from the water hurling its two occupants overboard.

"Noooooooo" he called as the boy and dragon disappeared beneath the water.

Upon reaching the shore, the huge Viking Chief threw his helmet off his head and himself off the rocks and into the cold subarctic sea. Down on the sandy floor, Stoick could see the boy still pulling at the chains that kept the dragon a prisoner of both the Vikings and the water but soon Hiccups body reached its limit and floated slowly backwards limp and lifeless with several tiny air bubbles delicately making their way to the surface of the water about twenty five feet above him. Stoick grabbed the boy's collar and swam for the rock he had just dived from less than a minute before. Breaking the surface like a seal fleeing a predator, he tossed the boy to safety on the shore and turned back to the bay. Once more he dove in and once more he swam to the sea floor.

The Night Fury thrashed about violently in a desperate attempt to escape its bonds but when Stoick appeared in front the trapped creature it stopped moving and stared deep into the Vikings eyes. Stoick knew his time was short and his life was about to end for he had shown the black dragon nothing but hate and contempt since its capture and it was he who had bound and muzzled it. Now the black beast would surely kill him as soon as it was free but then... after Stoick was dead... it would go to Hiccup. It pained him to think about what would happen to his son as he hopelessly fought the giant beast, surely to lose and surely to die just to distract it for a short time while the rest of the tribe fled to the far side of the island. He felt so proud of the young man that the boy had turned into. Hiccup was a true son of a chief putting the lives and welfare of the tribe ahead of his own.

Stoick grabbed the hinge on the side of the stock collar that held the dragon captive with his huge calloused hands and strained his arms against the wood and metal and soon the collar gave way with a jolt and the dragon was free. Without hesitation the mighty beast leapt out of its bonds and shot to the surface – with Stoick held firmly but gently in its claws. With a loud splash the pair arced though the air and onto the shore. Again Stoick found himself in utter disbelief for not only had the beast spared his life but moreover it had saved him.

The Viking Chiefs mind filled with realisation; his son was right and dragons were not what Stoick had thought them to be. He pulled himself once more to his feet and ran to where the boy and dragon were about to fly off into, what he was sure, was their certain doom.

"Hiccup" he called as he grabbed the boys wrist "I'm sorry... f-for everything".

"Yeah me too" came the reply.

"You don't have to go up there"

"We're Vikings, it's an occupational hazard"

"I'm proud... to call you my son". Stoick let go of the boy's wrist.

"Thanks Dad". The black dragon crouched down, looked up and took to the air like a bolt from a crossbow.

So fast did the Night Fury climb into the sky that Stoick soon lost sight of it and he turned back to see the other Dragon Riders continue to battle the giant and his heart both leapt into his mouth and skipped a beat as his eyes took in what his mind refused to believe. Only two of the four dragons that had flown to the rescue were still in the air, Astrid on her Deadly Nadder and the twins Tuffnut and Ruffnut on the necks of the Zippleback. Fishlegs boulder like Gronckle lay upside down on the pebble covered beach and the boy was attempting to turn the small mustard brown coloured dragon over and back and onto its feet. Although the sight that Stoicks eyes were having the most difficulty in believing was seeing Snotlout, the boy who had been riding the Monstrous Nightmare, running across the head of the giant dragon.

He ran as fast as one could manage under the circumstances while Ruff and Tuff guided the Zippleback around in front of the giant and dove with a loud SWOOOOSSHH toward the beast just as Snotlout, having run out of head to run on, threw himself into the air meeting the Zippleback at the point where its two necks attached to its body. The long snake-like dragon, with wings working furiously, looped once more around the massive head carrying its three passengers away to safety. Bringing up the rear and covering their escape was Astrid leaning her upper body to the left and right both balancing and guiding the Deadly Nadder in a series of quick moves designed and intended to lead the monsters attention away from the fleeing trio on the overburdened Zippleback.

Stoick discovered recently that his son had several weeks experience in training and riding a dragon but the inexperience of the other riders was obvious even to someone who had never seen anybody ride a dragon before today. Astrid's skill however, was truly something to behold for in such a short space of time she had formed a strong bond with her flying mount and the pair moved in perfect unison through the sky but the battle was about to take a turn that no amount of flying skill or experience could hope to avoid. Stoick noticed the giant dragon had been somewhat dazed and surprised at the events that were going on around it but now the beast appeared to compose itself and set its sights on the one annoying little pest still within its reach, Astrid.

It did not snap its massive jaw to snatch the Nadder and its rider from the sky, nor did it sweep its giant claw to swat them as they flew by protecting their escaping colleges. The beast simply stood its ground, opened its cavernous mouth and began to inhale. Slowly at first, the breeze in Astrid's face began to change from the forward motion of her dragon to the increasing rush of wind that was moving past her and into the ever expanding lungs of the monolith. Her expression began to change from grim determination to a genuine look of terror as she felt her dragons forward momentum diminish to the point that they were now slowly moving backward toward the jaws that would bring about her total destruction. Desperately she coaxed the panting Nadder to fly faster but the only progression they made was backward into the mouth of the monster.

Back on the ground Stoicks despair was almost complete. The other Vikings had stopped fleeing as they should have been, to watch their children fighting the giant dragon from the backs of beasts that they had all been trying to exterminate just ten minutes ago. Several times in those minutes, Stoick had expected to die in battle but now he was left standing too far away to be of any help, watching a young girl being pulled into the jaws of a beast that he still could not truly believe existed or indeed had any right to exist.

The shocked crowd of onlookers began to notice something, a very familiar something. That something was a distant sound and it was the very sound that every Viking had come to fear since the first time they had ever heard it. It was a distant whistle that grew into a high pitched whine that grew into a screaming growl and it still struck terror into their hearts. It was the sound of the Night Fury on its final attack dive. At any other time they wouldn't have had any hope of seeing this attack as the Night Fury had only ever struck in the cover of the darkest nights. Now in the daylight, they searched the sky but still could not see any visual sign of the slender black beast until they noticed a small dot moving in at such a high speed that no one had thought it possible. The noise grew to a deafening roar as the black streak, wings folded back to its side, flew straight at the giants head. With a loud explosive thud, the Night Fury sent out a powerful shot of glowing blue plasma flame that exploded on the mighty beast's lower jaw with such a force, that the giant was briefly stunned.

In less than a second, the shockwave hit Astrid in the back pushing her away from the giant dragons gaping mouth. Her Deadly Nadder tumbled down toward the beach while she flew almost straight up into the air tumbling over and over again. The Night Fury spread its wings wide to slow its flight, banked back and flew straight up. As its momentum slowed it turned back toward the ground and once more pulled in its wings and began to rapidly pick up speed as it dropped toward the ground. Astrid too, was now falling back to earth as the Night Fury spread its long black wings and levelled off while setting itself on a course to intercept the girl tumbling toward the ground. With great speed and agility it caught Astrid deftly by her left leg and quickly moved away from the dazed giant.

Stoick the Vast took in the scene from his rock near the still burning ships. Impressed as he was at Astrid's dragon handling skills, the demonstration his son was now giving was truly amazing. The Night Fury that the boy was riding, (what had he called it? Ah, yes; Toothless) was missing the left side of its tailfin and the artificial replacement Hiccup had made was being controlled by the boys foot movements and a series of metal rods and leather straps connecting the two together. To achieve all the deft manoeuvres Stoick was witnessing, rider and dragon needed to truly act as one. As he watched in awe, the dragon flicked the girl hanging beneath it into a gentle half turn and caught her again by the left arm while holding her waist lightly in its powerful rear claws. The dragon spread wide its wings, slowing itself to the point where it could lower Astrid on the pebbles at the pace of a brief sprint, safely well away from the giant beast.

It seemed to Stoick that almost no time had passed between Astrid being saved and the Night Fury disappearing once more into the sky. Its speed was so great that it would take to the air and become nothing but a tiny black dot in a matter of seconds but it also took no time before he could once more hear the now welcome sound of a Night Fury attack dive. Toothless and Hiccup were defiantly coming in faster this time and Stoick doubted that lightning could be any faster. The blue flash of the plasma blast attack hit the flank of the giant dragon so hard that it actually fell to one side. This did not hurt it however and only made it angrier. Then for the first time, Stoick saw that this was not merely a giant beast but a true dragon as from along its body it unfolded the mightiest pair of wings he had ever seen and would ever see. This was a creature that stood ten times higher than the mast of his longship and from where he stood, it obscured his view of the mountain from which it had emerged. The fact that it had wings and was now taking to the air filled him with such dread that he was temporarily frozen to the spot. There could be no escape for them for even if the Vikings somehow managed to beat the odds and leave the island, the monster would surely follow and destroy them. All seemed lost and his son's valiant efforts would surely come to naught in the end.

The Night Fury sped away from the lumbering giant and headed out over the bay. Huge twisted pillars of rock lay in front of them, remnants of the former island cliff face now long eroded by wind, rain and stormy seas and they rose from fifty to over one hundred feet high. Some looked quite frail, ready to topple at the next high wind but most stood firm and solid, prepared and ready for whatever the next thousand years of wild weather could throw at them in anger. Stoick could see Hiccup leaning forward in the leather saddle firmly attached between the shoulders of his dragon. The two darted left and right, up and down, even rolling over and over to avoid striking the sea stacks while keeping out of the reach of the flying mountain behind them. The giant dragon was completely incapable of making such complex manoeuvres but it had no need to as it smashed through even the largest of the rock towers as if it were made of soft sand and its progress remained totally unimpeded as it sought out its prey with no thought of diversion.

The other Vikings now stood with their chief watching intently as the beast slowly picked up speed and began to close the gap on the smaller dragon that was being slowed by the constant direction changes it had to make just to avoid the rocks its pursuer simply pushed from its flight path without flinching. The rest of the dragon riders began to cheer and punch the air as Hiccup and Toothless flew by. So much had been achieved today and so far all had survived and the young Vikings felt such a rush of excitement, they felt sure that they could not loose.

Stoick however possessed no such confidence as his experience in battle told him that anything could occur at any time and the slightest slipup could put a warrior into a position from which there could be no recovery. The head of the pursuing giant struck one of the rock sea stacks that the Night Fury had just flown around with a loud crashing thud. The Viking crowd were forced to turn away as dust and rock rained down upon them. The Chief's heart began to race at the thought that one wrong turn could put the tiny heroes in range of the beast's jaws. As if they were aware of his fear, the dragon and its rider changed both their tactic and direction turning skyward as fast as Toothless could lift them.

The wings of the pursuer appeared to be slowing but each time they moved down, the wind that those mighty wings created churned the sea into clusters of whirlpools and several Vikings were even blown over backward. The Night Fury flew high into the thick dark grey clouds followed closely by the monster till both were completely out of sight to those left down below. Stoick stood with his people staring at the empty sky with just the slow rhythmic whoosh of giant wings emitting from the clouds to tell him where the beast was. At his side, Astrid began to fret. While she could still see Hiccup victory seemed within reach but now, though surrounded by people, she felt completely alone. She wished she possessed the courage to take her Chiefs hand as a comfort to the both of them but she could not bring herself to show any sign of fear or weakness to those around her. So is the fate of the warrior, even if she is just fourteen and very, very scared.

It felt like an eternity had passed as everyone continued to stare upward, unable to see but hypnotised by the sound of the giant wings emitting from the clouds. Astrid was totally unaware of the fact that she had stopped breathing some time ago when at last came the sound she had hoped to hear. From deep within the clouds came the screaming whine of the Night Fury and soon after, the blue light of its plasma flame flashed from left to right and exploded into a massive yellow fire ball on the enemy's side. A second explosion followed soon after, then a third. Each attack lit up the cloud so brightly, that the monsters shadowy silhouette was imprinted on the sky. Astrid soon lost count of the Night Furies repeated attacks when events changed so suddenly that all who witnessed it, found it difficult to accurately follow the chain of events as they unfolded.

Just like the Vikings on the ground, the giant dragon could not follow the speed of the attacks it was enduring. Unwilling to restrain itself any longer, the beast inhaled until its lungs were ready to burst and began to throw out one long massive flame. The beast twisted and turned in the air in a desperate attempt to fill the cloud with so much flame, that even the fastest dragon could not escape its wrath.

The Vikings gave a collective gasp as Hiccup and Toothless emerged from the glowing yellow clouds. Dragon skin has a great resistance to heat and flame but half of Toothless's tail was made of thick, dark brown leather and it glowed as white as a lantern burning in the overcast sky. It appeared at first to those on the ground to be like a guiding light, dropping from the cloud and leading the giant beast that flew barely twenty feet behind it, straight down toward the island below but as it grew nearer all could see it for what it was; Toothless' tail blazing a trail through the sky as Hiccup drove him on down, down, faster and faster. The wings of both dragons beat as fast as each could manage and the gap between them became smaller and smaller. Another sound joined the cacophony in the sky and it was a sound Astrid had only recently learnt to fear. The giant dragon opened its mouth and began to fill its massive lungs as Toothless and hiccup came ever closer to the monstrous jaws. The beast had no intention of eating them as it did to Astrid and her Dragon for its anger was so great toward the presumptuous pair that it planned to burn them so fiercely that no trace of dragon or rider would ever be seen or heard from again.

Its mouth began to fill with the gas that the dragon produced from the glands at the top of its throat to create and throw its flames. It filled both its mouth and its lungs ready to let go enough fire to burn the entire island but before it could begin to exhale Hiccup leant sharply to the right turning both he and Toothless completely upside-down. The small black dragon took quick aim and sent a glowing blue plasma shot straight back at the cavernous, gas filled mouth. So close were the two dragons that he could not miss and the gas began to ignite across the width of the surprised dragons jaw and deep into its throat and lungs. Hiccup pulled up on the left side of the Night Furies collar, signalling the dragon to turn over once more. They spun back upright and the rider instantly leant hard back and in response Toothless spread his wings and positioned them firmly against their direction of travel.

With a loud 'Whomp' the wings formed into a pair of long black parachutes causing Hiccup and Toothless's decent to slow so rapidly that they flew straight back into the monsters mouth. Astrid gasped in horror at the sight but just as it had for her, the explosion emitting from the dragons mouth caught the pair and threw them straight out the right side of the mighty set of jaws and back over the beasts head. Toothless and Hiccup turned back to sky and began to fly up the neck of the monster but too late. The giant had spread its wings in a vain attempt to slow its uncontrollable descent but its mind was totally unaware of the fact that its body was already dead. Inside the giant dragon the gas filled lungs were still in the act of exploding and unstoppable flame was spreading within even to the point of burning large, gaping holes in its wings. The end came for the monster as it finally ran out of sky and its head struck the ground on the beach at the base of its mountain home splitting its side and releasing the explosion of flame into the air.

Flying skyward, Hiccup and Toothless soon found themselves being totally surrounded by flame while from her vantage point by the sea, Astrid could just make out the small black figures desperately keeping ahead of the ever expanding fire. They raced upward along the back and tail of the giant dragon. The end of that tail was like a giant mace almost as large as its head. Now that the monster had struck the ground, that tail began to bend in an arc over Hiccups head. Instantly he pushed down on his heel while lifting his toe, moving the connecting rods and straps to his dragons burning tail in such a way, that the tail fin twisted to the left allowing Toothless to fly around the giant tail falling toward them. As Toothless began to turn, his tail reached its end as the last pieces of burning leather fell away from the skeletal metal struts meaning he could fly up no longer. Boy and dragon fell back slightly and were struck hard by the giant wrecking ball tail.

Astrid could not stop herself from calling his name as she watched Hiccups lifeless body fall backward into the still growing explosion. Toothless flew down toward him but the boy disappeared into the flames a split second ahead of his dragon. A dragon that, with the loss of its tail could no longer fly in any direction but down. The explosion continued to its eventual conclusion covering the island and surrounding waters in thick smoke and falling ash. All fell still. All was quiet. How much time it took for Astrid to emerge from her shock, she could not tell.

Yesterday... Astrid had fallen in love.

**So ends chapter 1 and I hope it was a good start - 15 more to come. Only the first four will have much flashback stories and 1 has the most of them so I look forward to hearing your opinions. Marty.**


	2. Chapter 2

2 A Change of Heart.

Hiccup had always been an interesting boy, clumsy but interesting. Although he and Astrid had been friends their entire lives, he had not always made it easy for her. A little over fifteen years ago, the Isle of Berk had suffered through one of the toughest winters in living memory. The sea ice was so thick and the snow was so deep that neither the Vikings nor their animals went outside for several months. Fortunately Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe, had prepared the village and its people for this very situation. Several years ago the digging of small tunnels to link the Great Hall, the forge, the main barn, food store and four village houses had begun. Five villagers had been lost during a similarly hard winter when Stoick was only twelve, one of whom being his beloved Grandfather who froze while attempting to fetch supplies from the village food storehouse. Although not yet complete, there were enough tunnels so that all the Vikings could stay safely together in the buildings that were linked during the freezing winter storms.

Much to everyones delight, late in the following autumn, Berk enjoyed a larger than normal number of babies being born. The first to arrive was Snotlout Jorgenson followed within a day by Tuffnut Thorston and his twin sister Ruffnut. Little Fishlegs Ingerman came into the village two days after that, although he didn't remain little for very long. Three weeks later Hiccup was born to the Chief and his wife Valka with Astrid arriving four days later in the Hofferson household. The six soon became known as the winter babies and spent much time together especially after each dragon attack that the village suffered. Each mother would take a turn in caring for the group while the others helped to clean up and rebuild.

Tragedy soon struck however when during one such attack Stoicks house was destroyed, little Hiccup was injured and Valka was carried off by a large Stormcutter dragon and never seen again. After this Hiccup would spend much of his time being cared for by the other four winter mothers while Stoick both grieved and continued to take good care of his people as Chief. To Astrid, it had always seemed quite normal to have a group of close friends her own age while the other children in the small village often had to find friends a few years younger or older than they were.

Her troubles with Hiccup began when she was about to turn seven. The other winter children had celebrated their birthdays already and while she helped her mother to set up for her own party, she made an innocent observation.

"I wish I wasn't always the last one to have my birthday party."

"Well, you wouldn't be but Hiccup just couldn't wait to be born" her mother replied casually.

"What do you mean?" Astrid shot back.

"Well we weren't expecting him to arrive for another month but unlike you, he couldn't wait"

"Unlike me? What do you mean?"

"You my sweet, were four weeks late. We all thought you would never get around to being born."

A look of intense concentration came over Astrid's face as she did the calculations in her head followed by a look horror.

"I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE OLDEST" she protested.

She was chastised by her mother for shouting but the worst was soon to come.

"HICCUP SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE YOUNGEST, NOT ME" came the only reply.

Astrid's mother sighed and her head drooped. Why had she said anything, it was only conversation she told herself. Explanations of the unpredictability of pregnancy and statements that it was not anyone's fault, particularly Hiccups were not heard through the rage of the six year and three hundred and sixty four day old girl and she spent most of the next day staring at Hiccup with a seething hatred that took over seven years to subside completely.

Life took a strange turn for her at the age of thirteen when Snotlout, who had always been a show off, kept trying to impress her with crazy stunts while staring at her with a smile that would turn Yaks milk to yogurt on the spot. When she told her mother of this and of how she could not walk passed the blacksmiths forge without seeing Hiccup out of the corner of her eye watching her intently, the older lady had tried to explain the ways of boys and men but had to admit that she didn't really understand them either.

For the next year or so Astrid began to consider what she would do as she grew to adulthood. It was a foregone conclusion that she would be a Viking warrior but would she choose to marry and if so, then to who? Snotlout already assumed it would be him but the thought made her feel a little queasy. Hiccups crush had grown stronger every day and although she liked him, she could do almost anything better than he could and that, she was sure, was not the way it should be. Whats more every time the dragons attacked and Hiccup tried to help, he did almost as much damage as the dragons. As for the other two boys, Fishlegs was more interested in his collection of dragon facts and figurines and Tuffnut only wanted to fight (with his sister mostly) and then brag about his injuries.

In Hiccups favour was his skill as the Blacksmiths apprentice. When Gobber the Belch was out one day, she had given her mother's best battleaxe to Hiccup for sharpening and when it was returned, it felt like a new axe; Shiny, sharp and perfectly balanced. At first she suspected that it was a new axe but just above the handle grip were the notches her mother had carved to show how many dragons she had despatched with it. A husband with these skills would be very handy indeed as she would always have the best weapons on Berk but she could not help but think that there should be more to a successful marriage than the best weapons and not everything he made turned out as well.

One dark night during a dragon attack, Hiccup was seen running off to the high cliff top near the sea with what appeared to be some kind of cross between a log and a wheelbarrow only to return a few minutes later without his contraption and running at full speed from a pursuing Monstrous Nightmare. The chaotic scene that followed ended with one of the village's huge torches being destroyed and a trio of Deadly Nadders being allowed to escape while carrying away the net, which should have held the marauding dragons, full of Berks sheep. After this fiasco, Astrid was totally flabbergasted that Hiccup was chosen to join her and the others in the battle training arena.

The first day of battle training was a genuine disaster as Gobber had thrown them straight into the deep end by releasing an angry Gronckle into the ring. All the others had done absolutely everything except what they should. The twins started fighting with each other and Fishlegs turned his back to the dragon just to answer a question and barely avoided a lava shot in the back. When the Gronckle came at Astrid, Snotlout was flirting with her and Hiccup as always, was Hiccup. The beast managed to pin the Chiefs son to the wall of the arena and was about to remove his head when Gobber grabbed the Gronckle's jaw with the shining hook that was his left hand and the molten lava struck inches above Hiccups head.

The next day found them moving with stealth through a tall wooden maze being stalked by a Deadly Nadder and as usual Fishlegs was screaming, the twins were fighting, Snotlout was flirting but Hiccup just stood looking up at Gobber asking stupid questions about Night Furies. What was he thinking? They did not even have any Night Furies in the arena and Hiccups inattention almost got them both killed. He was really beginning to annoy her and what's more, he was now disappearing into the forest every day after training.

On the third day, Hiccups actions began to take an unexpected turn as the six trainees were up against a Hideous Zippleback; a long tall dragon with two heads and no fear of young Vikings. So far, the dragon had gotten the best of all the trainees but to everyones surprise when Hiccups turn came, he stood unarmed before the beast with his hands raised forcing it by sheer will alone to move back into its prison. The other trainees and their instructor stood in awe unable to close their gaping mouths while Hiccup simply locked the door and ran off to who knows where.

The next few days of training were like a new kind of hell for Astrid. Hiccup brought down a Gronckle by apparently just looking at it. The following day, as Astrid lunged at the Nadder with her mother's sharp, shiny and perfectly balanced battleaxe, Hiccup again dropped the beast completely unarmed. Jealousy grew within Astrid as the others began to look past her and on to Hiccup as the new star of the arena. That jealousy turned into seething rage after Hiccup managed to turn away the attack of a Terrible Terror by simply wiggling his shield at it and Tuffnut declared that Hiccup was now better than she had ever been.

She attempted to quell her rage by retreating deep into the forest with an old throwing axe. Over and over Astrid hurled the axe into the trees, rolling over in a dodging manoeuvre to retrieve the axe before throwing it at the next tr... wait... what was Hiccup doing out here and what was that bundle he carried. The startled boy looked back toward her, gave an innocent sheepish grin and trotted off beyond a nearby boulder. Pulling herself together, Astrid ran to the rock, climbed it and peered over only to find that Hiccup had gone once more, disappearing completely into the forest. Later that evening, while walking by the Blacksmiths forge, she heard a clatter from within.

"Hiccup?" she called, "Are you in there?"

The boy jumped out the window and closed the shutter behind him. "Astrid, hey" he said with surprise. "Hi... Astrid, hi Astrid, hi Astrid.

"I normally don't care what people do but your acting weird" she noted "well... weirder."

Astrid watched amazed as Hiccup rose with a jerk two feet off the ground and disappeared backward through the shutters. She ran to the window and threw it open but the forge was empty. That did it, she decided; she would find out what he was up to, even if it killed her in the process.

"Stay out of my way" Astrid demanded the next day "I'm winning this thing".

It was the day of the final test. Only the top two trainees were in the arena, Astrid and Hiccup. Stoick the Vast had returned late the previous day leading a fleet of burned and battered Longships. He had been so despondent at his failure to find and destroy the dragons nest but his solemn mood changed dramatically when he found out how well his son was doing in battle training. He watched intently as the two young Vikings moved quietly and with purpose while a large yellowish brown Gronckle flew slowly around the inner rim. Hiccup appeared to give in to her threat by staying well out of the way as he stood to wave to his father with that annoyingly sheepish grin Astrid had grown to loath. She moved away from him and hid behind one of the short wooden hurdles that were scattered around the arena. The dragon swept around behind Hiccup while Astrid crept from wall to wall, moving in behind the round, heavy beast. This was it; she was in the perfect position and the dragon was totally distracted. Astrid leapt out from behind the wall and with her axe raised, she vaulted a second wall and ran screaming at the unfortunate dragon only to stop dead in her tracks, her eyes wide in disbelief. Before her lay the Gronckle, on its side, purring happily while hiccup just stood there looking very scared not of the dragon, but of her. Astrid, for want of a better term, lost it; totally and completely. Swinging her axe, she stomped on the ground while Viking mothers covered their children's ears against the tirade emitting from the pretty blonde girl in the arena below.

An hour later found Astrid waiting in the forest near the rock Hiccup had passed by the day before. She knew he would return to continue with whatever mischief he was up to and this time, she would find out what it was. As if to justify her reasoning, she soon heard the sound of foot falls moving in the distance and so she retreated into the shadow of a tall pine tree. Hiccup rushed by carrying a large woven basket totally unaware that he was being so closely observed as he mumbled something to himself about what a disaster his life had become. Astrid kept close and quiet determined not to let him get away but the boy was so preoccupied she could have been riding a Yak for all it mattered. Hiccup climbed down into a shallow sinkhole about thirty feet below the forest floor and Astrid knew they had reached their destination when Hiccups mumbling turned into a loud rant about going away forever. She sat down on a large rock near to where Hiccup had dropped his basket, picked up a smooth stone and began to sharpen her axe in a menacing kind of way.

At the first sound of stone honing steel, Hiccup jumped up so startled that he almost tripped over another small rock behind him. Astrid knew she had done the right thing when Hiccup did not protest at being followed but instead began to stutter a pleasant greeting while looking around nervously. Astrid stood up and began to walk menacingly toward him demanding answers to his odd behaviour and sudden dragon handling skills. As he continued to stammer it seemed obvious to Astrid that every word was a lie being desperately made up on the spot to divert her attention from the rustling sound coming from the shadows thirty feet away. A dark shape moved slowly into the light filling Astrid with horror; it was a dragon. She had never seen or heard of anything like it before. It looked like a lizard but moved like a cat even down to the twitch in its tail. Astrid moved quickly and with purpose by throwing Hiccup to the ground and rolling back onto her feet ready to defend them both. The beast now charged toward them while letting out a mighty roar. She drew back her axe ready to strike when the unbelievable happened.

Hiccup had jumped up between them but it was not the girl he was protecting, it was the dragon. The beast reared up as Hiccup pushed Astrid down and threw her axe away but then a realisation came to her mind. At the time of the last dragon attack before they had begun training, Hiccup had claimed to have shot down a Night Fury causing everyone to laugh and mock him, but could it be true? Could this black dragon of a type she had never seen before, that Hiccup referred to as Toothless, be the elusive Night Fury and why was Hiccup protecting it? For the first time Astrid was at a total loss as to what she should do. She turned and ran still shaking as she climbed out of the sink hole and asked herself 'How?' and 'Why?' as she ran up the hill. The others had to know and she had to tell them; now.

Astrid reached the crest of a rise and vaulted over a moss covered log but before her feet could make contact with the ground again, she felt a firm pressure on her right shoulder as she was lifted into the air. A yell of terror filled the forest as Astrid expected to be killed on the spot but the dragon lifted her slowly into the air and deposited her roughly near the top of a Fir tree and then settled itself on the very same tree. Astrid glanced up and saw to her surprise, that Hiccup was riding and controlling the dragon as the tree bent and groaned under the weight of the three perched on high. Hiccup now wanted to talk to Astrid but she was no longer in any mood to listen to explanations. She was having a lot of difficulty taking it all in. Her lifelong friend who had been training by her side to kill dragons and protect Berk was now riding one of the most feared dragons of all. Hiccup conceded to her demands and agreed to take her back down to the forest floor. Pulling herself up onto the branch she had been hanging from, Astrid swatted away the hand of help being offered by Hiccup as she climbed up behind him and onto the dragons back. 'I must be crazy' she thought as Hiccup gave his dragon the order to take them down.

Slowly and smoothly, the dragon unfurled its long black wings and as they caught the breeze, the trio's weight was slowly lifted from the strained tree. Astrid's heart was beating so hard she could almost hear it from within her chest when without warning, the beast lifted its wings high above its head and with one beat, leapt almost straight up into the air and Astrid found herself screaming once more. There were very few times in her life to compare with the terror she was now experiencing.

First came the vertical climb followed immediately by the power dive. Several times the wild creature would turn upside-down while close to the sea, slamming her head into the water making her feel like she would drown. Hiccup shouted at the beast in a desperate attempt to calm it down but the dragon was no longer listening to him. As it took to the heights once more, it began to spin with such ferocity that Astrid was not sure if she could maintain the hold she had on Hiccups chest. Still spinning, it turned back to toward the sea and Astrid sobbed as she buried her head into Hiccups back and cried out.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just get me off of this thing."

She did not notice at first because her eyes were shut tight and her heart was still racing but the dragon had stopped spinning and had levelled off with its wings spread wide and was now riding on the wind smooth and slow. The wild ride had taken less than a minute but it had felt like it would never end and with her eyes still closed, Astrid began to wonder. The dragon was not listening to Hiccup but it had become calm as soon as Astrid had apologised; could it understand her and did it see her as some kind of threat?

'I did come at it with an axe' she thought 'and I did push Hiccup down, but could someone really tell a dragon they were sorry and could it really understand me?'

Gradually Astrid became aware that all was well and calm. With her head tucked down, she could not yet feel the breeze in her face and began to wonder where she was and were they still moving at all? Very slowly she lifted her head and opened her eyes expecting to find herself back on a tree but as she focused, she could now see her face was only a few inches away from the underside of the clouds that were rolling past her much faster than she could run and yet it felt like she was barely moving. Lifting up her hands, the cloud swirled around her fingertips and formed into tiny little eddies behind her.

The sun was low in the evening sky and had turned the clouds into a bright fiery orange. From the ground, clouds were mostly a single solid grey mass but from up here they formed at different heights with pillars and tunnels between them and Astrid knew that she and Hiccup were the first people to ever see them like this. This dragon that she had earlier tried to kill, was now giving her the most amazing gift she had ever received. Astrid looked down into the dragon's big green eye and smiled. Toothless could not talk and she did not know its thoughts but somehow she seemed to understand that it wanted to show her more.

In one long deliberate movement, the dragon flew down and began to pick up speed, then it arced back and started to climb up, up and over backwards in a giant loop that was so smooth, to Astrid it felt as steady as if they were standing on a rock. Hiccup said nothing but urged the creature on and up until they burst through the clouds where to Astrid surprise, they left the sun setting below them and were now presented with the brightest stars she had ever seen shining in the night sky with no clouds above to obscure her view.

The Northern Lights shone brightly, illuminating the sky in the brightest pinks and greens as the trio flew on above the clouds. Soon the scene changed again and Astrid could see her home in a way she never had before. From high up, the island, with its forests and mountains, beaches and cliffs, was so small and vulnerable and the lights from the village were so beautiful. Just as she had earlier, Astrid slipped her arms around Hiccup and put her chin on his shoulder. Now she knew how he was controlling the dragons in the arena and why; they could be tamed and they could be trained and Hiccup was not trying to show her up in front of the others as she had supposed. She had misjudged him and treated him unfairly for he was right and she had to admit it but what of tomorrow? With Stoick the Vast back on Berk, the time had come for Hiccup to show his skills and kill a dragon in front of the entire village.

Before they had time to consider what could be done, events took another wild turn. A chattering noise began to arise and Toothless became agitated. The dragon looked around and then dove sharply and suddenly into the thick sea fog below. Astrid began to wonder about the noise and Toothless's strange behaviour when, through the fog, she saw the silhouettes of other dragons. There must have been another raid on the village as each dragon carried prey in its powerful talons. Some carried cattle or sheep from the village while others had wild boars, fish and even sharks. Astrid had just begun to think differently about dragons but now some doubts were beginning to arise. Where was Toothless taking them and would they be able to turn back before the other dragons turned on them? They flew on for hours until Astrid's eyes made out something through the mist that she had never seen before. She had learnt about these special mountains that glowed red and from which molten rock flowed down but she had not expected to see one that night. Toothless took them deep inside the volcano and in there, they had learnt the truth; the long hidden truth.

On the long flight back there was much more time for talk. Talk of the monster they had seen, talk of their discovery about the miserable lives of the long misunderstood dragons and the link between the two. One thing they did not discuss was what should be done about it for as far as Astrid was concerned, no discussion was needed. The village must be awoken and the Chief must be told. There could be no other course of action so when Hiccup stopped her, Astrid was more than surprised.

"Hiccup, we just discovered the dragons nest." Astrid exclaimed. "The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here and you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon?" she pointed to Toothless. "Are you serious?"

Hiccup turned to look at her with grim determination on his face. He didn't try to argue. He didn't try to make his case. He simply said "Yes"

The young girl's eyes widened. Later she would remember, she would look back and know. That was the moment she had fallen in love.

**I had always wondered how such a small village could have so many teens about the same age so Berks baby boom seemed like a good explanation. I hope you enjoyed the Astrid point of view (pov) but chapter 3 should have more new story.**


	3. Chapter 3

3 The Miracle

With an almost agonising slowness, the thick smoke began to thin, the ash began to settle and the Vikings emerged from their stunned silence. Victory had come but no one cheered. Their long nightmare was over but no one felt like celebrating. No longer would they sleep lightly always in fear of a dragon attack on their village. Together they had stood behind their Chief as he bravely led the charge and together they had made the horrific discovery. What had followed would never be forgotten; it couldn't ever be forgotten. The entire army of brave, steadfast Viking warriors, the strongest women and men, the most skilled of all fighters, the best the Isle of Berk could give had just been saved by six children no older than fifteen years of age. These children had saved them by defeating a beast of such incredible size, that no exaggeration would ever be required when the story was later told (but would often be suspected) and they had done it from the backs of five much smaller dragons.

The Chief's son had used the giant dragon's size against it in a brilliant manoeuvre by angering the beast, leading it high into the clouds and then finally diving back to earth at such a speed, that the giant had no hope of ever pulling away from the ground again. It had struck with such force that the entire island had lunged and shook so hard almost no one had remained on their feet. The dragons own gas, that produced the flaming breath it used to destroy the Viking armada, had been exploded inside its body thus making sure that nothing would remain to show that this incredible monster had ever existed.

Astrid Hofferson blinked her eyes, exhaled and began to breathe again for the first time since she had seen her friend Hiccup fall into the... she stopped, blinked again and started to look around, aware for the first time that people were moving and talking all around her. From the distance came a voice calling. It was the voice of the Chief, Stoick the Vast calling to his lost boy.

"HICCUP" Astrid could see the people around her were searching also.

"HICCUP" the Chief called once more. "SON!"

The calling ceased. Astrid saw that the crowd had stopped their search and were now coming together twenty yards away. She drew a quick breath. Had they found him? Was he alive?

Desperately the young girl ran to the place where all were gathered and pushed her way to the front. On bursting through the crowd she came to an abrupt halt. Before her was the Chief; on his knees, back to the others, head down, a few flakes of ash softly coming to rest on his shoulders, a black dragon lay on the ground in front of him. The hope that was rising insider her fell back into despair but no tear came. Slowly the dragon lifted its head and opened its eyes while emitting a low painful moan. It looked at Stoick and gave a faint whine, acknowledging his pain.

"My son" Stoick whispered faintly "I'm so sorry".

The dragons eyes opened wider and it gave a low snort of pain as, while still lying on its side, it slowly spread its wings to reveal the body of Hiccup; son of Stoick and hero of Berk.

The Viking leapt up and ran to the boy. He knelt back down by the dragon and gently picked up his son checking him for any sign of life. Throwing his helmet to the ground, Stoick placed his head on the boy's chest and listened intently.

"He's alive" Stoick declared "You brought him back alive" his voice again like a booming roar and yet, still very frail.

A huge cheer arose from the crowd behind him while Astrid brought her hands to her face and gasped with relief, a tear at last welling in her eye.

Stoick placed his mighty hand gently on the wounded dragons head.

"Thank you for saving my son"

Stoicks trusted friend Gobber, to whom Hiccup was apprenticed, looked over his Chiefs shoulder.

"Well... you know, most of him" he noted.

Looking down Stoick saw that, although the dragon had done its best to cover the boy entirely, Hiccups left leg had protruded from the safety of its fire proof wings and had been completely burnt off below the knee.

"Gobber, see if you can find Olvor"

"Right Chief" Gobber replied and hobbled off to find the Viking surgeon who had taken care of his own missing limbs for so many years. Stoick raised himself up and carried the boy over to the other Vikings. Seeing Hiccups missing leg for the first time, Astrid gasped and her whole body shuddered. A few of the other Vikings had various limbs missing but none so young and none so close to her. She ran to him and took up a position to left of Stoick and followed closely behind.

Stoick wanted so much to stay with his boy but he soon began to take in the situation and knew he must as Chief, take charge once more. Scanning those nearby, he noticed Agnar who had been the medic on his flagship treating a warrior's flesh wound and called to him.

"Agnar, how does it look, are there any casualties?"

Continuing to treat the arm in his hands, Agnar answered "I haven't seen any yet Stoick, but I've seen a few bad burns from when the fleet went up and a couple of broken limbs." He finished his work and began to rise. "All in all we appear to have been luck..."

Seeing the boy in the Chief's arms, Agnar stopped in mid sentence and began to examine Hiccup's leg.

"We're going to need Olvor."

"Aye, I've sent Gobber to find her" Stoick replied. "It will be dark in a few hours. Take the injured back off the beach to the base of the mountain and see if you can get a fire going. We'll make camp there for the night."

"My dragon can make a fire."

Stoick turned to see where the voice had come from and there, close behind him stood Astrid looking eagerly up at him. He had briefly forgotten that, although he was still the Chief, the world he knew so well had changed abruptly in the last few hours. Looking up, Stoick scanned the scene around him. Standing in a small group nearby were four dragons that had been his captives in the training arena back on Berk and now were standing free and being attended by four young Vikings while the tribe looked on amazed but behind them, at a distance, were several more wild dragons that had not fled when Stoick's catapults had opened the side of the mountain and the battle had begun. He steeled himself once again, expecting a fight, when he realised that these 'wild' dragons were not readying to attack at all. They were simply curious, watching what they too had never experienced; Vikings riding dragons.

"Thank you Astrid. Come and see me when you're done."

"Oh" she hesitated. "I was going to stay with..." her voice tapered off and a look of realisation came across Stoicks face as he smiled.

"Of course, I'll come and see you later."

His paternal instincts screamed at him as he handed his unconscious son over to Agnar but he knew Hiccup would be taken well care of and he had to see to the welfare of his people; his people and his – dragons? As Astrid ran off to get her Deadly Nadder, Stoick strode over to a group of Vikings who appeared to be discussing the nearby wild dragons in a nervous way. As he got closer he called out to the dragon riders so the other Vikings could also hear him clearly.

"Fishlegs; go and see to Hiccups dragon. It's hurt so make it comfortable as best you can lad." He turned to the next boy.

"Snotlout; I want you to take your dragon for a trip around the island and report back anything of importance."

"Right Chief" the two boys replied in unison and flew off to their tasks with pride.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, bring you dragon over here please."

"Coming Chief" shouted Tuffnut.

Stoick turn to the men and women of his tribe and addressed them.

"Two days ago Hiccup tried to warn me of what we would find here but I did not believe him. He also tried to tell me dragons were different to the way I had thought them to be but I did not listen because I have lost too many friends, including my own dear Valka to dragon attack. Today I have learnt that just as a man can be good or evil, so it can be with a dragon. I know this won't be easy but these five dragons have shown themselves to be worthy of our trust, and our thanks. From this time forward let us treat a wild dragon as we would any other wild animal and fight it only if it threatens us."

No cheer came at the end of this short speech, just general murmur of agreement as the people of the tribe considered their future and the wisdom behind Stoicks words. They felt a certain relief that they could fight back if attacked but that looked unlikely as even some of the wild dragons around them were curling up to rest nearby and appeared to be completely at ease.

"Right then" declared Stoick "Let's get to salvaging some of these ships before we lose the light."

* * *

Toothless lay quietly still on his left side with his head back and a low purring growl coming with every breath. The dragon had fallen hard onto the rocks with its wings folded around its body to protect the frail young boy in its grasp from the searing heat of the flames that had erupted all around him. The only time that the Night Fury had moved since then, was to open its wings to present the boy, hurt but alive to his distraught father.

Fishlegs Ingerman approached with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Although he had always wanted to see a Night Fury and study it at close range, he was still very inexperienced when it came to being so close to a strange dragon. He was also extremely aware of how dangerous any wounded animal could be and this one could shoot a blue plasma flame straight through the middle of his chest if it so desired.

The Gronckle he had flown all the way from Berk followed close behind him like a faithful dog and panted like one too. Fishlegs began to speak in comforting tones as he approached the Night Fury so as not to surprise the large black dragon.

"Hey there boy err... Toothless," he began to mumble to himself "you don't look toothless to me."

The dragon lifted its head to Fishlegs and made a soft whine-growl that made the boy a little surprised for not only did it seem to accept his approach but appeared to be fully aware that he was there to help.

It was only two days ago that Astrid had approached Fishlegs and the other trainees, after the Viking fleet had set sail for Dragon Island with Toothless bound and muzzled on the deck of the flagship and she had told them of what Stoick did not know. The young Vikings had sat awestruck and almost silent as she spoke of confronting Hiccup about his odd behaviour, her first encounter with the mighty Night Fury, being lifted into the fir tree and the wild first flight. The small group had become totally enthralled as she spoke of soaring though the clouds, under the moon and over the island. Their chests had begun to tighten when she told them about being surrounded by a hundred dragons bringing in the kill to the very island on which he now stood and he had almost passed out when she revealed to them what she had seen inside the mountain.

Fishlegs now found himself kneeling by the creature he had been taught to fear for his entire life. That creature now seemed so frail to his eyes and he began to wonder just what it was that he could really do for it. As he began to rub its head, the Gronckle that had accompanied him came close and sat down beside them and as he looked at the two dragons together, a realisation came to him. More than anything else, the Night Fury needed to be reassured that it was safe and that it was with friends and that it would not be abandoned. It was the same way that Fishlegs or anyone else would feel during the times when they were unwell and vulnerable. Fishlegs lifted his head and looked around the beach and soon an idea began to form.

* * *

Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare lifted into the sky with its rider coaxing it on with every beat of its wings. He may be the youngest of the Jorgenson clan but Snotlout was the oldest of the winter children, the strongest and, as far as he was concerned, the best and it was only right that he had been given the most terrifying, the most confronting dragon of the group. It was true that the Night Fury was faster but it looked like a big black salamander and the Gronckle may be the toughest but when tamed, it acted like a big lumpy puppy. The Hideous Zippleback looked impressive but was a little clumsy and as for Astrid's Deadly Nadder, well it looked like a giant blue chicken. No; to his mind nothing could compare to his own impressive dragon and after all, what kind of name was Toothless anyway? His dragon would have a title that reflected its frightening visage. Monsterface; Blackheart; Megabeast he considered many names but then remembered what he supposed to be doing. Lodged inside his mind was the firm belief that the Chief had given him this important task because none of the others could be trusted with it and the thought made him grin with false pride. Here he was, flying alone while Chief Stoick kept the others nearby where he could keep an eye them.

Snotlout finally put this pride to one side and began his task by scanning the island. He was finally beginning to get accustomed to being so high off the ground after a fairly shaky start. Yesterday morning when he had awoken, Snotlout was excitedly expectant of what was to come. Astrid Hofferson (or as he liked to think of her; the future Mrs. Snotlout) had regaled him the evening before with an amazing story of a giant dragon that was so big, that she claimed any other dragon could fly straight down its throat without its wings touching the sides. Oh... and the other trainees were there as well but to Snotlout it was like a magical evening that Astrid had planned just to be with him. He would have found the story hard to believe from anyone else but she was his lady love and would never lie, well...not to him anyway. She had told them all to get a good night of sleep and to meet up by arena at first light. After joining up with the others, he walked inside the stone walled, cage covered arena to find Hiccup staring up at the huge iron door that imprisoned the dragons he had been fighting against for the last few weeks.

While Astrid had spent most of the last evening telling them all of her adventure on Dragon Island, the disgraced son of Chief Stoick the Vast had been here in the arena with nothing but a basket full of fish and a handful of wild grass preparing the dragons. Everyone quivered with anticipation, except for Astrid who just stood there with arms folded and a wry smile on her face.

"Well, what is the plan?" she asked of Hiccup who smiled back and held up a finger in signal for them to wait.

He began to turn the wheel and lift the pin that held the lock fast. Moving to the centre, he pushed the door out wide and slipped into the dark prison. A low growl came from within and Snotlout began to wonder if Hiccup would ever be seen alive again when he stepped back into the light walking backwards with his arm outstretched. His hand was hovering inches above the snout of the red, vicious looking Monstrous Nightmare which followed in his path while looking straight into his eyes. When Snotlout would later come to tell the story of this first encounter, he would speak of nothing but his own bravery but in reality, the boy began to shake harder and even gave a little whimper as the beast approached. Hiccup came to a halt allowing the dragon to at last make contact with his hand. Snotlout gave a strangely quiet yell as Hiccup grabbed his hand and placed it gently on the dragon. A deep purr came from the beast that reverberated up Snotlout's arm in a way that caused him to smile in surprise.

The bonding had begun.

* * *

Most of the fleet had sunk after having been burnt to the water line but some could be pulled up onto the shore because of the anchor chains and ropes that led from the beach to the sunken wrecks. Stoick had the idea of using the Hideous Zippleback that Tuff and Ruff had ridden, to help pull the wrecks ashore. He hoped that this would help to get the Vikings accustomed to working with and trusting the dragons. It took Ivar the herdsman only ten minutes to fashion a harness from salvaged rope but it took another ten to calm the dragon down enough to wear it thanks mainly to the twins constant arguing and shouting with each other the whole time. The result was worth the effort however for although the Vikings could have done the work alone if they had needed too, Stoick knew that the sooner everyone started to see the dragons as allies and not a threat the better off they would all be. To his surprise also, the dragon seemed to thrive on the praise and attention it received as it helped. After the team had pulled their third ship ashore, Stoick gave the order for some members of the tribe to begin removing anything of use from the wrecks while the others, now dubbed 'The Dragon Team' continued to pull the ships up onto the beach.

"It'll be dark in about another half hour so join me at the base of the mountain before then."

"Righty ho Chief" shouted back Sigrid on behalf of the others as Stoick made his way to the glowing camp fires in the distance "We'll see you soon."

* * *

Fishlegs studied the wrecked catapults that littered the ground around him and picked out two long, sturdy beams and dragged them back to where Toothless and the Gronckle lay on the ground placing them, one each side and along the length of the black dragon. He looked around once more and noticed the salvaged shipwrecks on the shore and made his way down to where Sigrid the Strong was directing the two groups of workers and the Hideous Zippleback.

"Excuse me" he called politely for he did not want to get on Sigrid's bad side as Snotlout had once done only to be found a few hours later hanging by his britches from the mast of a longship.

"What is it lad? Spit it out, we've got work to do" came her short reply.

"Err, Chief Stoick asked me to take care of Hiccups dragon and I, err need some things from that ship and a little bit of help... please?"

"Take what you need lad" Sigrid replied without looking at him "and please, take Tuffnut with you. That will stop him fighting with his sister and upsetting the dragon" she sighed.

"Thank you Ma am" he chirped and trotted off to the small pile of recovered items and grabbed a folded spare sail and a length of rope. He called to Tuffnut for help and the two returned to Toothless and unfolded the sail behind the resting dragon. Fishlegs then knelt down by its head and spoke softly.

"Hey Toothless; we're gonna make a big sling for you and take you to the camp so you can be with us tonight, okay boy?"

Fishlegs had no way of knowing how much Toothless understood but he felt better for having tried.

"Wadda ya want do?" Tuffnut asked as he pondered the sail, the beams and the dragon.

"We have to get Toothless onto this sail so we can get him up to the campsite" Fishlegs stated as clearly as he could but with little success.

"What? Wait, you wanna sail a dragon? Wow, and they say I'm crazy."

"Just get around the back and try not to hurt him."

"Me? You're the one who wants to turn him into a boat."

"Just push... gently."

With some coaxing, they got Toothless half onto his feet and positioned the sail close by, allowing him to roll slowly back again onto the canvas. They brought in the thick beams and tied on the cordage lines from the sail after which they rolled up the sail onto the beams until each one was about a foot away from the dragon. Finally after tying the beams together they hoisted the front part onto the Gronckle's shoulders and started to drag the makeshift litter up to the camp where the glow of several campfires lit up the side of the mountain in the fading light. They found one of the fires near to a small cave where sat Astrid's Nadder and realised this was the best place to go with their wounded friend.

* * *

As the tired Viking Chief approached the warm inviting glow, he heard the sound of wings growing closer and as he looked skyward, he beheld a sight that would soon become familiar to all the inhabitants of Berk. Young Snotlout Jorgenson brought his Monstrous Nightmare to a landing with a loud thump a few yards ahead of Stoick, dropped down to the ground and ran up to the Chief to give his report.

"What did you see son?" Stoick enquired.

"Well... a couple of dozen people had made it around the headland before the... thing, the... giant dragon or whatever it was, went down and exploded and they thought you were all dead" he smiled excitedly.

"So when they see me riding a dragon, WOW, it just blew their minds." he grinned joyously but seeing Stoicks glare he composed himself and saluted "err, Sir."

"What did you do then, did you just leave them there?"

"Err, n-n-no sir" Snotlout stammered "I landed nearby and told them what happened and, oh boy, were they ever glad to hear that you were okay."

"So, are they on their way back now son?"

"Not yet sir. It was already getting dark behind the mountain so Mr. Olaf asked me to report that he's decided to make camp and they will make their way back at first light."

"Well done lad. Anything else?"

"Some of the wild dragons are returning but they mainly seem to be going inside the mountain."

"Right, settle you dragon down for the night and go take a rest by the fire and, good work."

"Thanks Chief" replied Snotlout as he trotted happily back to his dragon.

As Stoick entered the campsite he could see some his brave warriors warming themselves by one of the fires after having had their injuries attended to by Agnar and Freya.

"What's all this laying about while there is still work to be done?" Stoick bellowed loudly.

A mighty roar of laughter erupted from the group and Stoick joined in with delight. Hoark the Haggard lay close by with a slightly broken leg. He raised his arm in a delicate way with his pinkie finger up and spoke.

"Sorry ol' boy but I couldn't abide with any more work today. I'm simply exhausted don't you know" and the laughter erupted once more as Stoick made his way passed the injured men and women.

He wanted to say how proud he was of them and that he was sorry that he had led them into this near disaster but he knew that what they needed now, more than anything, was a leader they could be confident in. A leader who would make all the hard decisions and lead them safely home.

This had been a day of 'firsts' for Stoick but the surprises were not over yet. He looked down at the lovely warm fire that was keeping the chill away and saw that it had no wood or coal in it at all and consisted of nothing but several glowing, red hot rocks. Hoark could see the puzzled look on his Chiefs face, so he spoke up.

"It was amazing. We had some wood from the broken catapults and young Astrid brought in her dragon to light it. But with one breath, it turned the wood to ash and even set fire to me britches."

Another roar of laughter went up from the group and Hoark continued his tale.

"Well we knew it weren't any good doin' that again, so we piles up these rocks and the beast breaths on 'em for less than a ten count and they bin glowin' ever since and it must be, oh nearly two hours now."

The others nodded in agreement and continued to enjoy the warm glow in the cool evening. Stoick made his way toward the base of the mountain where he could see another woodless fire near a cave entrance where a dozen or so Vikings sat singing off key. As he drew nearer he noticed that the loudest and most off key was none other than Gobber the Belch; friend, blacksmith and legendarily bad singer. The others around the fire(?) silenced themselves as they saw their leader approach but not Gobber. He wailed on till the song was complete and only then acknowledged the Chief.

"Well halloo there. If you're looking for what left of your son," Gobber declared tactlessly "he's back there in the cave with Olvor and young Astrid who has hardly left his side, if you know what I mean."

Stoick ignored the insinuation and asked "What do think Gobber, how's everyone doing?"

"Weeeell, if you consider how we started the day thinking we would be fighting hundreds of homicidal beasts to the death, yet ended up being saved from a monster that was about to serve our arses up on a platter by our own kids and a bunch of dragons, then pretty darn well I'd say. I don't even think anyone is dead, though for the life of me I don't know why."

Stoick gave a half smile. As usual Gobber, now sitting back down and contemplating a new song, had summed up the situation perfectly. He made his way back into the cave and was surprised at first, to find it so warm and inviting but soon realised that one of Astrid's amazing rock fires must be the reason. He was close; there were two fires a few feet either side of a large rock about the size of Hiccups dragon and Stoick smiled at the comparative thought. The rock had been covered with a coat made of Yak skin on which laid his son, still unconscious, having his leg attended to by Olvor while Astrid sat holding his hand and lightly stroking his hair. The two ladies looked up as Stoick entered and Astrid jumped up with a start.

"Chief! I... err.."

Olvor smiled as Stoick calmed the startled girl.

"It's alright Astrid, no need to stand at attention" he reassured.

"What.. err... yes, thank you sir" she stuttered as Stoick turned to Olvor.

"How's my little hero doing?"

Olvor, speaking low, took Stoicks arm and turned him away from Astrid.

"He's not good Chief and it's not just the leg. He's got bruises everywhere and I've got no way of telling if he's hurt inside or not, only time will tell. The good news is that his heart is beating strong and his breathing is regular but the bad news is I've got nothing to put on his wound and I'm afraid about his leg going bad."

"But you've fixed his leg" Stoick whispered in protest while looking back at the beautifully bandaged limb.

"Yes yes I've done me best but one of the secrets of my success is the pure alcohol I normally use to clean the wound and soak the bandages" Olvor replied. "I keep a small flask in my doctorin' bag but it fell out and smashed during all of today's goings on and the only other supplies are in a keg back on Berk and we won't be getting back there in a hurry"

"I could go and get it" came a voice from behind them.

Stoick and Olvor turned to find Astrid had snuck up behind them and eavesdropped on every word.

"It only took us a few hours to fly here. I could take my dragon, get a bottle of your stuff and be back before morning" declared Astrid, fairly bouncing with excitement.

"But it's dark outside and you'd never find your way" Olvor noted.

"Yes I will, I know the way and you should see the way Berk looks at night from above the clouds. You can see the signal fires for miles and miles."

"Oh really?" said Stoick accusingly "So you've seen Berk from a dragon before have you?"

"Err... just once when Hiccup and I..."

"Well how would you find you find your back here then?" Stoick continued. Astrid began to feel less confident of her ability to convince him of her plan.

"This is the dragon's home" she pleaded "It knows the way."

Stoick looked grimly ahead, and slowly inhaled.

"Alright" he snorted as he pulled off mighty fur cape and swirled around the small thin girl.

Astrid winced; the smell made her feel ill but she could not deny its warmth. They strode out of the cave with Astrid in front being half pushed and half carried as the Chief gripped her shoulders, lifting her up so that her legs were running on air. As the pair emerged Stoick put Astrid back down, looked up and sniffed the air. He knew the signs and he was sure that this would not be a calm night.

"I don't know" Stoick pondered "maybe you should wait till morning and go with the others."

But Astrid was not about to wait for an order that she did not want to hear. Breaking free from Stoicks grip, she ran to her dragon, leapt on and flew off into the night. Stoick growled to himself as he watched her go. It was one thing to be brave but he knew more than anyone what could happen when someone acted rashly and without thinking as he had done.

"Ahoy there Stoick." The call came from Sigrid the Strong, who had taken charge of the salvage teams when Stoick had left for the campsite.

"Ah" Stoick got right to the point "found much of any use?" he enquired.

"Aye Chief. We've got three kegs of fresh water and two small barrels of the pickled fish but all the bread and biscuits are gone. There are some tools and four spare sails and some rope. I'm sure we'll find more tomorrow on the other ships when we bring em up."

"If they're still there in the morning, we might be in for a rough night."

Stoick was worried. Most of his people were close by but not all. An idea came to mind and he started to run off to the nearby spot where the dragons and their riders had set themselves up just twelve yards east of the cave where Hiccup lay unconscious.

"Come with me" he called back to Sigrid who followed close behind, wondering what was to come.

The four remaining dragons and riders lay around their own private glowing rock pile talking and laughing over the day events with Toothless still resting on the makeshift dragon moving litter. The riders stood up as Stoick and Sigrid approached.

"Snotlout" he addressed the oldest of the group "I know it's dark but do you think you could fly back to Olaf and the others with some supplies for them?"

"No worries Chief" Snotlout declared proudly with chest out and hands on hips "they're just around the headland so I could fly there in no time" he bragged.

"Good" said Stoick, turning to Sigrid. "Wrap up one barrel of fish and one keg of water in a sail and bind it well with one of the ropes for I don't want it coming apart in the air, and give it to Snotlout."

He turned back and pointed to the boy "Tell Olaf that I said there may be some rough weather tonight and I have sent you and the dragon to help him. Make some of these hot rock fires and if they can't find a cave tell them to use the sail to shelter as best they can. I counting on you lad."

"I won't let you down Chief" he declared proudly and ran off after Sigrid to get the package ready.

Striding with purpose, Stoick rushed back to the cave to talk to Olvor but stopped to have a word with Gobber on the way.

"Get all the wounded and as many as will fit into the cave and take the supplies with you." He turned and shouted to all in earshot "Everyone else stay as close in to the cave as you can and bring the dragons in close as well"

Picking up two of the salvaged beams, Stoick strode into the cave.

"It smells like a storm's on its way Olvor. I've ordered all the injured in here."

Stoick placed the beams between some low rocks to make some seating and made his way back outside to where Gobber and some of the others were bringing the litter carrying Toothless nearer to the cave where a large overhang of rock would provide some shelter for all who would not fit inside the cave. Looking out into the night he did his best to keep his feelings well hidden but so many people were on his mind. Not the least of which was his own son who lay in the cave behind him and also the small group beyond the headland but it was the young girl who flew through the night, far out over the sea that occupied his mind the most.

He whispered to himself, "She must really love my son."

**At last a chapter with mostly new story so I look forward to everyones opinion. More flashback from a Nadders pov next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

4 Storm Flight

The moon shone brightly in the east as the dragon rose above the island that had been its lifelong home. It was a place that the Deadly Nadder had never felt safe or calm for Dragon Island was more like a prison than a home to the many hundreds that dwell there. Ruled by an overlord that demanded a constant tribute of food, she could do nothing but hunt and sleep but never truly rest. That was until the night several months ago when she was captured in a Viking net while raiding a small village and thrown into a cell that was itself attached to an iron cage covered arena. In the other cells around her sat more dragons that had been taken during previous raids on the village. These others just sat, having long ago accepted their fate while the young Nadder exhausted herself in a desperate attempt to escape by throwing her body against the metal covered granite door having totally depleted her flame during the capture. Soon after, having failed completely, she resigned herself and fell into a shallow and restless sleep.

Life for the captive dragons was hard and she never knew when each day began if she would be taken into the arena where young Vikings would fight with her until the dragon was defeated. If she should ever come close to gaining an advantage over her adversaries, a huge one legged man with a metal hook for a hand would intervene and force her back into her cell where, if she was fortunate, she would be given some food. It was never very good food, just a few fish heads or the rotting guts of some animal that the Vikings had already taken the best parts of. Afterwards she would be left alone in the dark to recover for a few days and to await the next time of battle but then one strange day, events took a different path and the dragon's life would change forever.

The Nadder had been pursuing a small group through a maze that was occasionally set up in the arena. It had been a good day for the blue dragon as the sun was high and warmed her back while she hunted her clumsy prey. She had been able to get off several shots at the fleeing and screaming Viking children and began to feel confident that this was well and truly going to be her day when just as she was about to finish off the two that had fallen, one of the smallest had jumped up and hit her hard on the side of the head with a shield attached to an axe sending her falling back in a daze and back to her cell.

A few days later she was in the arena once more and again the Vikings were scattered and on the run from her sharp claws and snapping beak. Looking around the ring she dodged an axe that was spinning toward her head and picked out one of the smallest Vikings and rushed at him but to her great surprise he didn't turn and run as expected and he soon disappeared into the blind spot just below her chin. With her heart beating rapidly, the dragon knew that she had to sniff out her prey fast or the others would regroup and drive her off once more but before she could manage to pinpoint his odour and strike, she felt a soft yet firm rubbing on the side of her jaw and began to feel a little woozy. The hand that pet her moved under her chin causing the huge dragon to drop down hard and she began to purr like a cat by a warm fire.

Two more days passed while she sat in her cell listening to the sound of a mighty battle taking place in the arena between two other dragons and many roaring Vikings while she cowered in the dark and wondered what fate held for her. That night, with a long slow creak, the door to her cell began to open and the silhouette of a small figure stood in the warm glow of the torchlight. The wary dragon tensed as the figure spoke in soft, soothing tones and two distinct aromas filled her nostrils. The first and strongest was the smell of something she had desired ever since her capture and it made her drool in anticipation; it was the welcoming aroma of a whole, large and fresh fish. The second and much weaker smell was the one she had detected when her chin had been rubbed a few days ago causing her to pass out. The tiny figure moved closer and she opened her mouth and took the fish with gratitude and delight.

The next day came with the anticipation of better things to come. The four large beasts and one very small one had spent the night with the doors of their individual cells open to the much larger prison arena where a warm fire blazed and the small Viking had moved from dragon to dragon petting them softly and providing them with regular treats of fresh fish till they all nodded off to sleep, more content than any of them had truly ever been before. Early in the morning she had awoken to find the boy gone and the door closed but he soon returned and opened the prison door wide. As he came inside the dragon could see all the other small Vikings were standing in the arena behind him but for the first time ever they all stood unarmed. One of the other dragons was led outside and taken to one of the Vikings who placed his hand gently on its snout and although she was unsure of what awaited her, she stepped out into the sunlight and was approached by a small blonde girl. The dragon recognised this girl as the one who had struck her with the shield covered axe some time ago but now she was speaking softly and rubbing her cheek as the boy had done. If she was going to act in this way, the big blue Nadder decided to give the girl another chance.

* * *

The Chief was right. Well of course he was, after all, Stoick had been leading the tribe and sailing on the open seas since before Astrid was born and if he said it would be a rough night then the time had come to lock the doors and windows and then nail 'em down for good measure. Girl and dragon had been in the air for a little over an hour and the headwind they were fighting against was now only marginally slower than the inhaled breath of the giant dragon they had fought earlier in the day, so at least they were still flying forward, but only just. Astrid now figured that it would take longer than the two to three hours to reach Berk than she had told her Chief but there was no chance at all she would even consider giving up and going back. It wasn't her pride that made her feel this way and it wasn't because someone annoying, like Snotlout had tried to prevent her going with some awful comment about how weak girls were.

No; the true reason she could never give up was Hiccup; the boy who had saved her several times over the last few days and the very first way he had saved her, was from herself. Ever since the day dragon battle training had begun, Astrid had changed into the type of person that she did not want to be; jealous and obsessed. She had begun to hate everyone and everything and the only reason she felt this was that nobody else in the arena would think and act as she believed they should. The whole place was filled with flirting, fear and fighting and the king of all this trouble was Hiccup.

The other four had their problems too; Fishlegs trouble was fear but he always kept his mind on the enemy. Ruff and Tuff on the other hand showed very little sign of fear but unlike Fishlegs, their minds were on defeating each other and never the dragons and Snotlout, although brave and strong, had his mind on something else altogether but the one who embodied everything that was wrong in the arena to her eyes was Hiccup. He may have been the son of Stoick but he was nothing like the Chief and he spent all his time doing everything except what he should.

If there was a place to be, he wasn't in it and if courage was needed, he'd never show any but on the very top of the list of reasons to hate Hiccup was his infuriating ability to get in the way, flirt with Astrid and upset the fight all at the same time. It seemed to her that he was not on their side at all but then one afternoon, Hiccup had shown her... no... he had forced her to see the dragons in a different way and it was the way that they really were.

Now he had saved her in a more literal way when he had kept both Astrid and her dragon from disappearing into the mouth of the giant. He followed this up by saving her again as she had fallen back to earth but if this were not enough he had capped it all by saving the entire tribe and all the dragons at the same time.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!"

She declared her opinion to the world in a loud voice as the rain obscured both her vision and her tears. Why was Hiccup fighting for his life when he was the one who had defeated the beast? How could it be that the only one to see the truth was the only one still suffering?

"It's just not fair" she repeated dropping her chin to her chest.

Thoughts of Hiccup were driving her forward; the thought of him lying back there in the cave, the memory of seeing him for the first time in his father's arms with his left leg just... gone, thoughts of all he had done for everyone and done for her. NO! She would not fail. It was not as simple as 'Succeed or die trying', if she died then he died and He-Must-Not-Die. It was as simple as that; he must not die.

* * *

The muscles that powered the dragons wings ached and burnt, but she would not stop for she had sensed something, and it was something important. The girl had screamed but not at the dragon, she had screamed at the night and she had screamed with passion. It was a mystery to the blue dragon why they had left the island with its warm fire and friends all around, but the girl had wanted to go and if she wanted to go, then the dragon wanted to take her and would not let her down. It was only recently that the two had become friends after going up against each other several times in battle and it was the boy, the boy with the fish who had made it all possible.

Back in the arena the dragon had noticed, without knowing how or why, that fish boy had done something to the girl that had calmed her and now instead of throwing axes, she was scratching her neck and making soft sounds too her. The fish boy must have done something to the others as well for none of them wanted to fight, except for the two that looked the same but they only fought with each other. After spending some time with the other dragons, fish boy came back with something in his hand and let the dragon smell it and there was the distinct aroma of Viking sweat on the long coiled fibres. He walked back along the dragon while touching her neck so she could sense where he was, and then he threaded the rope under her wings and threw it over her body, tying it underneath at the base of her neck and then used the rope to pull himself up onto her back.

It was a new sensation for the dragon to carry a rider but she soon got use to it as he urged her forward for a few steps. The dragon kept walking until she felt a light pull on the rope fastened around her and so she stopped alongside the girl who climbed on her back behind the fish giver who urged her on once more. As she walked, she felt a pulling on one side of the rope and so she circled around that way and received a grateful pat on the back for her effort. The turn had brought her around to face the open door of the arena and she felt her riders urging her on to walk faster as she passed through. On the outside now for the first time since her capture, she broke into a brisk trot and then to a run, all the time being urged on by her new friends. Unable and unwilling to stay earthbound any more she spread wide her wings and soared up into the sky, a warm feeling of delight filling the dragon as she threw off the memories of the dark prison and enjoyed her freedom once more. She could hear her riders cheer with joy as she beat her wings and continued to climb.

* * *

Astrid felt very small being tossed about the sky as the storm raged fiercely around her and even Stoicks mighty cape could not keep the wind and rain out entirely. Her hands felt numb as she gripped the rope that encircled the dragon's body and gave her some control as to the direction they should fly.

"Down girl" she shouted through the wind and firmly patted the dragons back.

As they dropped below the high clouds Astrid scanned the horizon as she had many times before, but this time was different for to her left, along the line of the dragon's wing, was a tiny light far in the distance.

"THERE!" she shouted and pulled on the rope while leaning hard to one side.

The dragon banked to the left and began a slow descent as her wings continued to beat hard against the wind. The light grew gradually brighter as they approached and soon, others could be seen blazing from within the mouths of the giant stone heads that were carved from the rock sea stacks in the waters around the Isle of Berk. The first part of their journey was almost complete and Astrid felt happy and satisfied but as she smiled and laughed, she could not stop the emotion from rising and tears continued to flow from her eyes. The dragon came to rest near the centre of the village so as not to be blown into any of the buildings. Only a small number Berkians remained behind when the fleet had set out for Dragon Island, the very young and the very old or infirmed but they all remained shut up in their homes, waiting out the storm. They were unaware of what had happened to their friends on Dragon Island, of the existence of the giant dragon and of the dragon riders who had saved the tribe from total annihilation so far away. Despite the noise of the rushing wind, Astrid led her dragon quietly through the lanes between the houses to the home of Olvor and signalled it to wait outside as she opened the door and delicately slipped inside. The soaking wet, yak fur covered, forlorn and bedraggled girl froze as she spotted Gothi sleeping in a chair by a roaring fire.

* * *

Astrid had always noticed Gothi in the observation area watching them in the arena and indeed it had been she who had chosen Hiccup over Astrid to kill the dragon at the end of the training period but the young girl had not known of everything that the wily old woman had seen. Gothi's home stood on a high rock overlooking the sea to the southwest and the village to the northeast and from there she took in most of what went on around her. On the big day of the fight between Hiccup and the Monstrous Nightmare she had observed many things that had raised her interest and she had spent much time since considering them and planning her next move.

When Hiccup had stepped into the arena, he looked very nervous but that was no surprise. It was Astrid though, that made her look twice. Time and time again Gothi had noticed some of the young men talking to Astrid and looking at her in a certain way but this was the first time the girl had looked back at any boy in the same way and it had made her smile. Everyone who watched what had happened in the ring was shocked at Hiccups actions in dropping his weapon, shield and helmet but only Gothi and the boy were aware of the dragons reaction to this sign of trust and when Stoicks fury had raged and the fight had begun, it was she alone who saw that it was the Night Fury who protected the Chief's son. This had given her much to ponder as she watched the fleet sail away that evening with the black dragon... the black dragon with the saddle on its back, bound on the foredeck of Stoicks flagship. The conclusions that had come that night were confirmed the next morning as she watched from her balcony two young Vikings, soaring through the clouds above, on the back of a big blue dragon.

* * *

The dragon rider was so surprised at seeing the wise old woman sleeping there in Olvors home that she failed to notice two important details. The first being the Terrible Terror, a small dragon less than three feet long from nose to tail, curled up asleep on her lap and the second was the fact that she had not yet shut the door. A cold breeze rushed through the room causing Gothi to shiver as she opened her eyes and turned smiling to Astrid. The little dragon gave a small protest growl as the lady rose but she placed it back onto the chair she had vacated and the creature circled around twice, settled down and soon began to purr once more. Moving toward the door, Gothi went right by the wide eyed Astrid to the Deadly Nadder outside and led the creature back inside to the warm inviting fire. The young girl finally pulled herself together and closed the door behind her. She was a little surprised that her dragon had managed to fit through although Viking doors are quite large. Astrid made her way back to where Gothi was patting the very satisfied dragon and stared at her in wonder.

"How did you know..." she began.

Gothi took her hand, led her to the window, opened it slightly and pointed up to her house on the rock and Astrid understood.

"Oh, you saw it all" she said as the window was closed behind her.

Gothi gave no reply but a smile and a knowing nod.

Astrid was taken back to the fire to warm herself while Gothi went to a far corner and picked up a rather large satchel that she brought back to the girl. Looking inside Astrid could see some leather bandages, a stone bottle, a sheathed knife, a small water barrel and some bread and dried meat with other sundries. She looked up to the lady.

"Thank you but Olvor sent me back to get something for Hiccup. He's lost his leg and it might go bad..."

Gothi held up her hand to silence the girl and then picked up the bottle out of the bag. She removed the stopper and sniffed at it, holding it up for Astrid to smell too and she did.

"PPHHHEEWW" she gasped. It did not smell bad, but sharp and strong and it felt like her nose would shrivel up and drop off.

"Whoa, that must be the stuff, I hope Hiccup doesn't have to drink that" but Gothi shook her head while replacing the cork and putting the bottle back in the bag.

Gothi was a woman with a lot of experience with the things that made life more bearable if the life in question was not going too well. In the spirit of this thought, she went back to the fire, wrapped a thick cloth around her hand, lifted off a black kettle and poured some of its contents into a cup. After replacing the kettle, she took the cup and gave it to Astrid.

"Thank you, and then I'd better get this bag back to Hiccu... back to Olvor as soon as I can."

Gothi's drinks of hot water and herbs were well known and respected for helping with any ailment or in any situation and Astrid knew as she drank, that the warm concoction would both aid her and thaw her out before she had to brave the storm once more. Sitting down on the rug, Astrid rested her head on the chair that held the small sleeping dragon that snored with a little chirrup noise. She placed the cup on the ground just as exhaustion took over and she nodded off to sleep.

The chair move as Astrid leaned against it causing her to awaken with a start only ten minutes later.

"Oh on" she jumped up in a panic "how long was I asleep?"

Gothi smiled and tried to calm the highly strung girl who ran to the window and peered through a crack in the shutters, relieved to see it was still dark outside. Astrid walked quickly back to her dragon and found that Gothi had been very busy in the short time she slept. A sheep skin had been fastened on to two points of the rope wrapped around the dragon's chest with the back tied to its tail spine. Stoicks cape had been rolled up and was attached to the cords that held the woollen skin at the front. Gothi held up for Astrid, a coat made of tanned and oiled leather with a large hood and gloves in the inner pockets.

"Thanks again" she said as she slipped into the coat knowing it wound keep out the rain and not absorb it as the cape had done.

Astrid rubbed her dragons back as she checked out the ties on the rope but found that all was secure. The sheep skin would be more comfortable to sit on during the long flight back but she could not help but think about the saddle that Hiccup had fitted to Toothless with its stirrups and restraining hooks for stunt flying. 'I must make something similar as soon as I get the chance' she thought to herself 'especially before I have to make another storm flight.' Astrid stopped mid thought as an idea began to form in her mind. She smiled to herself as she turned to Gothi.

"I'd better get going. Thanks for all your help... and Stormfly thanks you too."

Gothi opened the door as Astrid led the newly named dragon out into the stormy night. They made their way back to the centre of town where Astrid slipped on her gloves and climbed on to the sheep skin saddle.

"UP STORMFLY" she yelled, no longer caring if she was overheard and with a leap the dragon took to the sky once more.

* * *

Stoick the Vast continued to stand guard outside the cave where many of his people had taken refuge but was unfortunately far too small to hold them all. Orders had been given for the injured to be taken to the rear of the cave to rest while some others would sleep for a few hours and then join the Chief underneath the rock overhang to make room for the next group of weary warriors. It could be very dangerous to wake a sleeping Viking so the task was given to Gobber the Belch who would block any wayward sword or axe with the large stone hammer he had attached to his artificial and interchangeable left arm. More of the night had passed than there was still to come as Gobber approached the unmovable figure, staring into the darkness.

"It's not letting up then" Gobber shouted over the storm.

"Not long now" Stoick replied looking up at the thinning clouds "it's almost blown itself out."

"Err... I've come to tell you that the second shift has now had some sleep and left the cave so there is plenty of room for you to have a little shut eye now. So why don't you just..."

"I'm fine thank you Gobber" he said in that polite yet firm chiefly way that meant 'don't push me or you might get a bludgeon in your face'.

"Oh I'm sure that you are, it's just that we may be here for a few more days or maybe a week so you'd better pace yourself as we are gonna need you to..."

"I said I am FINE GOBBER" came the stern reply with the kind of finality that insinuated 'you're pushing it'.

"I am sure that Hiccup would like you to sit with him for a while" said Gobber, pushing it.

"HE'S AWAKE?" Stoick yelled as he spun around and grabbed Gobber's shoulders.

"Well... no but all the same..."

"You are really pushing your luck Gobber" said Stoick through gritted teeth.

It was now Gobbers turn to be angry. "Look here you stubborn ol' goat, if you don't..."

"GOBBER!" the Chief yelled and then caught himself and took a deep breath. "Gobber, I can't go in yet. Young Astrid's still out there and I..."

Gobber interrupted "And you can do nothing about that now BUT" he stopped Stoicks interjection "you will need to do something if she's not back at first light so you'd better make very sure you've got a clear head... for her sake.

Gobber stared unflinching into the worried Vikings face until Stoick began to see reason and became the Chief once more. He and Gobber had been doing their level best to keep their voices down although they were not very good at it but now Stoick spoke with authority so that all around, who were awake, could hear.

"Take over Gobber while I check on the injured in the cave."

"Right Chief" said Gobber knowingly as Stoick strode off into the warmth of the cave.

* * *

Astrid had thought that the trip back would be easier but it was not proving to be so. It was true that the headwind she and Stormfly had fought against on their way to Berk had been rough and slowed them down considerably. On the return journey though, every gust of the tailwind knocked the dragon and her rider around the sky like a feather making it hard for Stormfly to keep up her altitude as every time she came near to the clouds, the wind would send them both tumbling over and they would begin to fall down toward the untamed sea below until the determined dragon managed to right herself and begin to climb once more.

Stormfly knew this journey was important to the girl or else why would they be there? Why would they have taken the perilous flight through the storm to see the short woman with the tiny dragon if it had not been important? And why would they have left the strange wooden cave, which the humans liked to build with its warm fire and inviting host, just to carry a bigger load back to Dragon Island. The many different breeds of dragon have many different attributes and personalities and Deadly Nadders, Astrid was discovering, were very agreeable when they were treated well. Like most Nadders both male and female, Stormfly like to keep herself in good condition by washing in the sea or in any handy river she happened to be passing. She would also spend any spare time, if there was any with a giant angry dragon threatening her life on a daily basis, preening around her spines and quills so it was rare to ever find a Nadder with any parasites.

Nadders were also very intelligent and could observe and then reason with the information that they had. Stormfly had noticed many things about the girl and the boy with the fish including; the boy was kind and the girl was fierce like all the other Vikings. The boy had done something to all the smaller people and now they were kind too. The boy and girl had taken her back to her home, along with the other imprisoned dragons and their riders. When they had arrived, he had helped a black dragon who was bound and gagged. The boy had then saved Stormfly and the girl from being eaten and then followed that up by destroying the giant dragon and freeing them all. When all of this was over, Stormfly had seen the boy once more and he was badly hurt. Stormfly could see that one of his legs was gone and it made her very sad for now he would die and she did not want him to die but that is what happened to a dragon that lost a leg, a wing or a tail. The girl had followed as the injured boy was taken into a cave but had run back to Stormfly an hour or so later and their journey back to Berk had begun.

The dragon had given much thought to all of these observations and had decided that this journey must be for the benefit of the fish boy and after remembering that some other Vikings were also missing legs, that had been replaced with pieces of wood or metal, Stormfly concluded that in the pack she carried was fish boys new leg. This was not a bad piece of reasoning and she would never know that although she was completely wrong, she had managed to come pretty darn close.

**Well most of the flash backs are over so now I get to fill in the gap till Hiccup wakes up - fun fun fun and I have reviews at last :-)  
**


	5. Chapter 5

5 Astrids Return

The warmth of the fires inside the cave were a welcoming change to the wind and rain that Stoick the Vast had been standing in ever since the sun had set eight hours ago. The reality of the fires had been forced into changed once again for the Deadly Nadder and Monstrous Nightmare that had made the rocks glow red hot were no longer present with the first flying back to Berk and the other being sent to the aid of a group of Vikings who would remain separated from the tribe till morning. Fortunately for all, there were three more dragons present but the Night Fury lay near the cave entrance badly wounded and the Zippleback gas could blow up the cave entirely but the Gronckle was more than happy to get all the praise and attention for helping out. The only problem was that unlike most dragons, Gronckles don't breath fire very often, so when the hot rocks had begun to cool the brown bulbous dragon was taken to each campfire to eat the rocks that enabled it to create the molten lava that now kept the Vikings cosy.

* * *

A gust of wind hit Stormfly from above causing her to drop like a stone until she managed to fly out of the downdraught and level off. Although Astrid was incredibly cold and beginning to feel ill from all the rising and falling, she did feel very satisfied. She and Stormfly had fought the headwind all the way to Berk and now had survived the buffeting tailwind on the return journey. Stoicks yak fur cape was rolled up and bound in front of Astrid providing some protection from being thrown face first onto Stormfly's back with every change in the wind. Astrid could tell the weary dragon was finding it harder to go on with every beat of her wings but they must be almost back to Dragon Island by now and then they could both rest. A blinding flash filled the air followed closely behind by the crashing sound of thunder and Astrid almost jumped out of her skin. She was so surprised by the lightning that in the bright and brief light, she failed to notice that the wind had begun to drop slightly. As the second bolt of lightning went streaking from cloud to cloud, it lit up Stormfly in such a way that she appeared to be glowing and Astrid was amazed by the sheer beauty of the sight but in that same light, she could see that the satchel had fallen open on one side and slipping out of the top was the stone bottle that Hiccup needed so much.

Astrid gave a cry of panic and she grabbed for the bottle as it slipped from the bag and began to tumble through the air. The smooth surface was very wet and slippery and she found it hard to catch as with every touch of her fingers, she only pushed it further away. The desperate girl's brow furrowed with grim determination as she reached for the tumbling bottle when the large round cork came into contact with her fingertips as it spun and one of her nails caught on its rough surface and with a slight flick of her wrist she brought the vessel a little closer. This new advantage was all that was needed as she moved in her hands to steady the still spinning target and finally managed to grip it firmly and bring it close to her. With a sigh of relief, she held the bottle tightly to her chest determined never to let go of it again as she plunged down toward the sea.

The long journey and buffeting wind had definitely taken its toll on Stormfly and the weary dragon felt that she could not go on much longer. The lightning had flashed for a second time when to Stormflys surprise and horror, she felt the girl slip from her back and saw her disappear into the night.

The dragon's loud screech pierced the darkness as she dipped her head, folded her wings and dove headlong down toward the falling girl but the large pack tied to Stormfly's back interrupted the air flow over her body and slowed her down considerably. The girl was not attempting to slow her fall but was streaking through the sky as straight as an arrow. The distance between the two seemed to grow longer as they fell but Stormfly was not willing to lose the friend who had come to mean so much to her in only two days. The dragon strained to stretch herself thinner to cut through the wind but to no avail when the girl suddenly brought in her limbs and rolled into a ball thus slowing her decent to the point that the two drew slowly closer together. Stormfly's head moved over the tumbling girl as another flash of light lit up the scene below. The dragon could see waves crashing on an island shore coming rapidly closer as she dipped her head and rolled forward pushing the girl back into her waiting claws. The dragon completed her roll and threw out her wings but was too late for as she began to slow up, a large wave hit her firmly in the face and the island shore rushed toward them. In a desperate but impressive move, Stormfly brought her legs up under her chin and placed the girl as gently as she could onto the beach before coming down with a tumbling crash and rolled to a halt ten yards away.

Astrid had felt the claws closing around her as well as the rapid deceleration and wave strike that followed and the abrupt halt on the beach. As another flash of light lit up the island onto which they had fallen she saw her dragon painfully rolling away up the beach and coming to rest against a large rock. Picking herself up and slipping the bottle into one of the deep inner pockets of her coat, Astrid staggered up the beach to the dazed dragon and lifted up its head in her arms.

"Stormfly, are you alright?"

She stroked the dragons face and a soft birdlike chirrup growl came from the frail beast.

"Oh Stormfly, I am so sorry. Thank you... thank you... good girl."

Placing the dragons head gently in her lap, Astrid continued to comfort Stormfly and together they rested under the curved, eroded rock face.

* * *

With a rapid intake of air, Stoick the Vast awoke with a start. He had been sitting with his wounded son in the warm glow of the Gronckle lava when sleep had finally come as he had rested his head on the very rock on which the boy lay. Looking out of the mouth of the cave he could see a faint greyness and he knew that the night was over and the sun would rise within the hour. He stood and looked around noticing that all those about him were sleeping peacefully but he could hear movement from the outside as he made his way to the mouth of the cave. The storm was thankfully over although a strong breeze continued to blow in the pre-dawn light. All around him were Viking men and women attempting to create some kind of order in the wind blown campsite with some lifting up a frame that had once formed part of a huge catapult that had unfortunately proved to be totally useless against the giant dragon the Vikings had fought the day before. It had now been tied to one of the spare sails from the salvaged longships that still lay forlornly on the beach behind him and as it was raised up, the sail became taught behind the frame. Several sharpened logs had been knocked into the ground like giant pegs making a good sized triangular shelter. Stoick began to wonder how soundly he had slept for he had not heard the logs being hammered into the ground at all. Over by the edge of the camp, he could see that some of the pickled fish they had salvaged had been placed on sticks and had been stuck into the ground encircling a fire that was surprisingly made of burning wood.

"Mornin' Stoick" yelled Hoark the Haggard while tending the fish. "Breakfast will be ready soon."

Typical Hoark thought Stoick smiling to himself, even with a broken leg, he finds something to keep himself busy.

"Do you know where Gobber is?" the Chief replied.

"Aye, he's gone down to the shore with some of the men to check out what's left of the longships."

"Right" and the chief strode off toward the beach.

As he came closer he could see that all of the wrecks were still in place and had even moved a little more up the beach thanks to the onshore wind of last nights storm but had also been damaged further by the constant pounding they had received.

"Ready for another day of cookouts and jolly camp fun?" quipped Gobber as he hobbling up the beach.

"Not now Gobber I'm not in the mood."

"Ahh... I see a good rest has made a new man out of you."

"Gobber please!" Stoick pleaded for his friend to be serious. "No sign of Astrid then."

"Err, no but before you get too worried, consider that she may have spent the night on Berk because of the storm and be on her way back even as we speak"

"Do you really believe that?" Stoick declared accusingly.

"Well, to be honest..."

"I thought not and we've got no ships to send out after her."

"No, but we do have a Gronckle and a Zippleback with a Monstrous Nightmare not far away that we could..."

Stoicks face lit up "Of course!" he shouted to some of the men combing the wrecks.

"Ivar and Thorfinn; find Fishlegs and the twins and tell them to bring their dragons to me here. I've got a very important task for them to do."

"Right Stoick." The men replied and began to run off until Gobber stopped them.

"Don't worry about that men, get back to your work."

Stoick spun around and glared at Gobber ready to knock his head off but saw the smirking blacksmith pointing one finger out to sea.

"Take a look before you kill me." Gobber suggested.

Stoick turned and saw an approaching dragon ridden by the most bedraggled young girl he had ever seen. They came in to a hard landing right in front of the two men and the dragon sat down immediately in obvious exhaustion. Astrid leapt off the dragon with a slight stumble, removed her gloves and approached Stoick with a huge grin on her face. She looked absolutely awful with bruises on her arms and legs, blistered hands and hair that stood straight up but to Stoick, she had never looked better. A bottle was revealed from within her coat that she held out to Stoick.

"Here you go Chief." Her eyes were looking at him but didn't seem to be focused anywhere.

"Are you alright Astrid?" Stoick asked concerned.

"Sure" she replied and passed out on the spot.

**Woke up this morning to first reviews (yay) and for anyone who is concerned about the story not being finished one day, don't be because I am onto chapter five of the follow up story called 'How to deal with a seasick Dragon' as we speak. More Chapters ot this will be posted as soon as I finish the proof read and re-writes but the story will not change as it is done. Hope you are all enjoying the tale, Marty.**


	6. Chapter 6

6 Make 'Em Scream

Olvor's eyes widened as Stoick walked into the cave carrying the small unconscious warrior.

"Not another one" she said looking for a place to put Astrid.

The sun had not quite risen and the cave was full of sleeping and mostly snoring Vikings who were either among the injured or had come in a few hours ago for their turn at rest. Olvor spotted old Krabbi, a rather unpleasant man who's name suited him well, making a horrible noise over by Hiccups rock. As one of the wounded he had spent the whole night in the cave even though he had only twisted his right ankle so Olvor gave him a quick kick in the seat of his britches.

"Get up you lazy beggar and make room for someone who's really hurt and as for the rest of you, anyone who is able to walk can go outside and make themselves useful; the sun's almost up."

As the weary Vikings yawned, rubbed their eyes and made their way out, Olvor picked up a yak skin and spread it out on the ground near the Gronckle lava fire and returned to take the girl from the Chiefs arms.

"I don't think it was wise to have let her go. If only we'd known a storm was coming."

"I did know" Stoick replied "but I wasn't quick enough to stop her."

Olvor smiled as she placed Astrid gently on the rug. "She is a determined Girl" the doctor noted.

"And a successful one too" Stoick agreed as he handed Olvor the bottle and threw the satchel on the ground.

"Well this makes it all worthwhile" Olvor stated as she removed the cork and checked the contents.

"Wait a minute" Stoick exclaimed as he caught the aroma from the bottle "isn't that the vile stuff you put on my shoulder?"

Several months ago Stoick was assisting with the rebuilding of the Ingerman home after another dragon raid when a falling beam had struck him and left a splinter of considerable size in his shoulder and as was usual the brave Chief showed no sign of the pain as Olvor had removed it and wiped away the blood. Stoick had been very pleased with himself as some of the village children had been staring intently to see if any tear would form during the operation and all those present had seemed suitably impressed with his bravery. After the worst was over and Stoick was more relaxed, Olvor had opened a flask and poured some fluid onto a clean cloth and the strong smell filled the air.

"This'll make it better" she said as she dabbed at the wound.

All the children had fallen over laughing when Stoick had jumped up and roared in pain.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?" Stoick had screamed at Olvor.

"Keep it clean and make 'em scream" Olvor had declared "that's what I always say."

The memory of the intensely painful sting was still fresh in Stoicks memory.

"Won't that evil concoction kill him? After all he's not as strong as I..."

"It won't kill him, it'll save him because if the wound goes bad he'll die for sure" Olvor was adamant.

"How do you know it won't kill him?" Stoick asked suspiciously.

As Olvor began to delicately remove the binding she had wrapped around Hiccups leg the night before, she told Stoick a little story of her youth. Back when her father was still with the tribe, he had kept a strange contraption that could turn perfectly good grains into a liquid that when consumed, could send a Viking temporarily blind. One day Olvor had decided that she needed to dispose of particularly volatile batch before it could cause any more problems but she had stumbled while carrying the large wooden crate full of bottles and dropped it leaving a long gash on her lower leg.

"I still have the scar" she bragged and continued her story.

The cut was a bad one about ten inches long and Olvor found it hard to walk much further with the heavy crate and so she had decided that this was the perfect spot to dump her father's blindness water. Pulling out the stopper, she began to pour out the contents of the first bottle onto the ground but the stream had struck a rock and splashed back over the lower part of her leg near the ankle. Within an instant the liquid had gone into the cut and Olvor had felt the sting of pain. Not wanting to alert her father that his bottles were gone, Olvor had stuffed her woollen scarf into her mouth to muffle the scream that she could not keep in if her life had depended on it. When the pain had subsided she finished her task with more care and slipped back to the house where she replaced the crate and wrapped her wound. Over the next few days it became clear that the cut was infected but strangely, only at the top whereas the lower part of the cut that had been splashed from the bottle was clean and healing nicely.

"So I decided try it on the rest of me leg but I'd thrown it all out"

"Then how did you..." Stoick began.

"Well dad was still makin' the stuff so I just snuck down to where he hid it all and drained off a flask full and then, when I was far enough away so nobody would hear me yell, I poured some on me leg, screamed and re-wrapt it and that did the trick. After me ol' Dad died I just kept makin' it for wounds and cuts."

Olvor had finished the slow and delicate process of unwrapping Hiccups leg and after studying it for a short time, she mixed some of the bottles contents into a small bowl of water and returned to the work of cleaning and re-dressing the wound.

"I should have asked Astrid for more gear from home" she straightened up and grinned "but we'll make do though."

"This bag was with her dragon." Stoick picked up the satchel and handed it to Olvor "It might be worth a look." Taking the bag, Olvor looked inside.

"Hmmm, Gothi must have been there when Astrid arrived."

* * *

"You look like you've had quite a night ya big blue lizard" Gobber usually liked to talk to animals because they never interrupted him but this time was different and he wished the dragon would.

"Pity ya can 'nay talk cause I'd love to hear all about your trip." And he hobbled slowly away.

Stormfly sat by the fire nearest to the cave where the men had carried Astrid a few minutes before. Hoark the Haggard was still trying to get comfortable with being so close to a Nadder, or any dragon for that matter and this was his first time of being with one when it was not in the care of its rider but Gobber had asked Hoark to take good care of the heroic beast so he would give it a good try. Even though most of the Dragon Riders possessed only a few days experience with their mounts, the incredible display they put on the day before made every Viking come to think of the children as experts in dragon handling but he felt sure that it was a skill that he could learn too.

"Would ya like some pickled fish?"

Hoark picked up a stick from near the fire and held it out to Stormfly who sniffed it and wondered what the man had done to ruin this perfectly good fish.

"Nice fish; tastes much better than ol' Hoark does."

'If I wasn't so hungry' thought Stormfly as she took the horrid offering.

"Oh good." Hoark gave a sigh of relief.

The dragon decided to rest first and then to go and catch something a little fresher later on in the day.

Back at the beach, Gobber was assessing the progress being made on the wrecked longships. Sigrid was with a team charged with pulling anything usable that could be salvaged from the hulks and with the few tools they possessed they had begun to amass a small pile of thick iron nails, hatches with hinges and metal plates as well as shields, oars and an ever growing pile of planks and beams.

"Not bad for a start" Gobber seemed satisfied.

Most of the ships that had been pulled ashore late yesterday afternoon by the determined Vikings and the very helpful Zippleback were smashed, burnt to the waterline or both and the rest were composed only of the ships bows torn off during the salvage effort but even these were like a treasure to the Vikings when they were stuck on an island with very few resources but rocks and wild dragons.

"And that's just the gear for ship building" Sigrid pointed out. "We found a nice little stash stowed in that bow on the end."

She led Gobber several feet away to another pile.

"We've got another sail more fresh water aaand..." she grinned "two fishing nets."

"Brilliant" said Gobber hungrily "I think I'll put those to some good use today cause that pickled fish makes some people very unpleasant to be near to."

"And you're one of them." Sigrid noted.

"Well I do have a very delicate tummy." Gobber explained as he hobbled away.

"Gobber, come look at this!"

The voice came from Thorfinn who ran up to Gobber while beckoning him back to the waters edge.

Gobber turned "What have ya got?" he enquired.

Thorfinn led him to a spot nearby and squatted down pointing into the water.

"Look, do ya see it?"

Gobber squinted as he attempted to see through the glare on the water and slowly, as his eyes adjusted, he began to make out a shape. About fifteen to twenty feet below the surface was one of their ships and although it was damaged, it was intact although it had lost its mast.

"It must have been holed and gone down before it got too badly burnt." Thorfinn was confident "If we could bring it up to the beach without doing too much more damage, we may be able to repair it."

"Aye" agreed Gobber. "I can see some sharp looking rocks down there but we should be able to rig up something. I'll tell Stoick and you all see if you can find any more like that one."

"We'll try but that's the only one I've seen so far without much fire damage."

"Do your best then." Gobber was unwilling to see anything but good today after surviving yesterdays monster and last nights storm even though they had almost no preparation but now that they had dragons on their side, what could stop them?

The sun finally decided to show itself over the horizon as Gobber approached the camp. He turned to look up at the sky when his ears heard the familiar whooshing sound of dragon wings. Other Vikings were also looking up and a few were instinctively gripping the hilts of their swords.

"It's okay" Gobber remarked casually "it's one of ours."

He had expected to see young Snotlout return on his Nightmare sometime during that morning but he had not expected to see with him Olaf, respected warrior and skipper of the longship Sea Mist, looking as white as snow sitting on the dragons back and gripping its neck with all his strength and his eyes shut tight.

"Are we d-d-down yet?" Olaf enquired.

Gobber lent in close to the shivering Viking and whispered in his ear.

"Hullo Olaf. Pleasant flight?"

"Oh Gobber" Olaf opened his eyes and fell to the ground with a thud. "I've never been so scared in me life. That little troll told me it would be easy."

"Hey" protested Snotlout "you should have tried flying all the way here from Berk."

"Leave him alone Snotlout" Gobber helped his friend up "Vikings aren't all used to flying yet."

"And some never will be" gasped Olaf with finality.

Gobber helped him to the fire where he sat opposite Hoark and his big blue friend.

"I could barely believe it when the boy told us that he and the dragons had saved us from the monster but this is even harder to take in" said Olaf, his voice still shaking.

Hoark patted the Nadders flank "Once you realise they're not gonna eat ya, it's not so bad."

* * *

Gobber wandered into the cave as Olvor continued to dress Hiccups leg.

"Where's Astrid?" he enquired. Stoick pointed to the sleeping girl on the yak skin.

"Ah she's like a little angel when she's not swinging an axe. How's the lad?"

"Olvor cleaned his leg with her father's grain alcohol and he didn't flinch" Stoick said grimly.

"Whoa that's not bad. I remember you screamed like a... sorry, go on."

Olvor picked up the report "I've seen this kind of thing before. Remember ten years ago when Krabbi fell off a rock ledge and rolled down to Crescent Bay? Well when they carried him back I cleaned up his scratches with the same stuff and he don't move or yell or anything and then he stays still like this" she gestured to Hiccup "for five days and then wakes up feeling a little sore but otherwise fine. It was like his body was tak'n its time to rest and heal before he wakes."

"So this is good then" Stoick stated.

"Well I hope so but I have to be honest. Sometimes they don't wake up and just waste away and die. I'm sorry to be so blunt Stoick but there is still a lot to be hopeful for, his heart sounds strong just a little slow."

Olvor hated being honest. She wanted to say with confidence that everything would work out but she could not lie to her Chief and Stoick understood.

"I appreciate both your honesty and the care you take of... of all the tribe."

There was a short silence that uncharacteristically, Gobber broke delicately.

"Olaf's back."

"Right" said Stoick "let's go make some plans" and he strode from the cave.


	7. Chapter 7

7 The Council

Stoick the Vast, High Chief of Berk stood near the mouth of the small cave at the base of the mountain and reassessed his situation. It had been light for only a short time and half of the sun was all that could be seen above the horizon but the tribe was very busy cleaning up the camp after last night's storm. There were three rock fires where much of the activity was concentrated as the people of Berk created a temporary home. Around the nearest fire about five yards from the cave, sat a few recovering warriors and a sleeping Nadder all slowly drying out after the rain while the second fire was a little further away between two large boulders that were now connected by the huge catapult and sail shelter Stoick had watched being raised at first light.

The third fire drew Stoick attention for this was where Hiccups Night Fury rested with Snotlout and his dragon. The Chief strode over while Gobber struggled to keep up on his one good leg. He was glad Hiccup's missing leg still had a knee because knees made it much easier to walk fast and the boy would need to walk very fast to keep up with his father.

"How are you doing today Toothless?" Stoick leant over and placed hand on the black dragons back.

Toothless pushed out his front claws, raised his back legs and gave a long low growl as he stretched himself out with his tail as straight as an arrow after which he sat back down and seemed to smile at Stoick.

"Glad to hear it" he laughed but had noticed that some of the mangled control cords and rods were still wrapped around its tail.

"Gobber do you think you could see to this?" He indicated the tail hardware.

"I'll even start planning a new one so he and the lad can go flying, when they feel up to it."

"Good" Stoick appreciated the trust Gobber showed in his sons eventual recovery.

"Snotlout; go find your father and tell him that I said to gather all the others for a tribe council meeting outside the cave as soon as he can manage."

"You got it Chief" came the standard reply as he ran off feeling important.

Within fifteen minutes Stoick was sitting on a wooden beam by the fire surrounded by the many of the people he trusted most. Gobber and Olvor stood on either side behind him with Thorfinn, Olaf and Snotlout's father Spitelout on his right, Sigrid, Agnar, Freya and Fjori sitting opposite with Hoark the Haggard taking up the entire left side with his new blue friend snoring peacefully.

"Before I start, is there anything urgent I should know about?" Stoick enquired.

The Vikings looked around at each other curiously for a few seconds before Sigrid spoke.

"Much to report but nothing life or death."

"Good, well we've got a..." Stoick began

"Err Chief Stoick sir" the frail voice came from Fishlegs Ingerman hiding behind Gobber.

"Would it be alright if I sat in with you for this meeting?"

Stoick was surprised at the request but inclined to suppress his usual fury and 'warriors only' policy. Once again he used his special Chiefing voice with the subtle intent of letting the others know his mind and allowing them the opportunity to agree with his position. He was very good at this style of leadership that made everyone feel like a part of the decision rather than unwilling followers.

"Hmm; maybe with your dragon experience and in light of the bravery you all showed yesterday, we should allow this unless anybody has an objection."

He looked around to see and hear a general murmur of agreement and so he gestured for Fishlegs to take a place near the front where Stoick could keep an eye on him. Seeing an opportunity for some advancement in his warrior status, Snotlout slipped in too and stood behind his father. Stoick noticed this and decided to let it slide but he was relieved that the twins weren't there too as they could be a little disruptive in the same way as an iceberg could be a little cold. And so the Dragon Island council began.

"Right; let's make this quick as we've got much to get done today" Stoick began. "Taking into account what happened yesterday and how we have lost every ship that we brought here, we appear to be in a reasonably good condition with only a few injuries and I believe that your broken leg is the biggest one Hoark, after Hiccup of course."

"I've had worse." mumbled Hoark and indeed he had.

"How is Hiccup?" asked Agnar with a general murmur of enquiry rising around him.

"What happened to Hiccup?" Olaf asked puzzled.

"It was amazing..." began Gobber excitedly but Stoick brought him to heel.

"Hiccups resting for now and I'll fill you in after the meeting Olaf for we have to make the most of the day. So then, the first order is food and water."

Freya stood "I've looked over what's been found in the wrecks and we've only enough of the pickled fish for the morning meal and some for midday but the main problem is water. With this many people and just a few small kegs it will be gone before the days end."

"Err, Chief..." Fishlegs raised his hand slightly but Stoick held up a finger and gave him a look that said 'patience'.

"What's the latest with the shipwreck salvaging efforts?"

Sigrid took her turn "There are more to be dragged up today, we've got a few men and the twins down there with the Zippleback getting ready to start. I can't guarantee that we'll find more water but there's already been two nets recovered so we should have some fresh fish by lunch time."

"Oooh" an idea came to Fishlegs but he quickly clamped his hand over his mouth as Sigrid continued.

"The best news with the ships is that Thorfinn spotted a wreck further out that looks repairable if we can get it over the rocks and up on the shore."

"That is good news" Stoick nodded. "Olaf, what's happened with your group, are they on their way back?"

"Not yet Stoick for when we got the word yesterday that you were all alive, we started to walk back but knew we wouldn't make it before dark so we made for a cave that Odd had seen and we made camp there. When Snotlout told me that you only had a small cave here I thought I'd better check with you about whether to bring 'em back now or have two camps."

Stoick considered for a moment and spoke. "It's true we've only one small cave here but this is where all the ships are and where most of the work will be done so I'd say best bring 'em back. Now; let's talk dragons."

Half of the group looked at Stormfly and the others looked to Fishlegs as Stoick continued.

"There are many wild dragons in the area but they seem to be keeping their distance for now. Do you think they will be any problem Fishlegs?"

The young Viking nervously considered his response knowing he would have to impress quickly.

"Um... err... well they might be Chief because although they only seem curious, we are on their island and if we ever appear as a threat it may upset them but I think I have an idea."

"Good" Stoick encouraged him "spit it out lad."

"Well sir, when Hiccup was showing us how to make friends with a dragon, he told us that the first thing he tried, was to offer Toothless a fish."

"Who's Toothless?" asked Thorfinn.

"That's ol' Krabbi" replied Fjori "he's got none of his own left" and they began to laugh.

Stoick dropped his head into his hands and spoke firmly.

"Toothless is the name my son gave to the Night Fury now please continue Fishlegs."

"Err... yes Chief, well if we can catch enough fish for the tribe then maybe we could also try and tame some of the wild dragons and then start to train them too. Also a large dragon can carry a Yak so bringing back a large barrel of water from Berk should not be a problem for Snotlout's dragon."

"No need" came a voice from the cave "there's plenty of water on the next island."

Astrid had awoken after little more than an hour of rest and rose to find herself not on the beach where she had passed out, but back in the cave almost alone. She moved over to Hiccup and saw that his leg had been re-dressed and covered with a piece of linen that was placed over the end of the leg and wrapped at the knee. There was also the unmistakable aroma of the grain alcohol doing its work to aid his healing. After looking to the mouth of the cave to make sure they were alone she leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek as a tear fell onto his face.

"Don't die" she whispered "please don't die."

Astrid inhaled deeply and regained her composure. She wanted to punch Hiccup in the arm to make him wake up but suppressed the urge and began to leave the cave. Upon hearing of Fishlegs plan for bringing water from Berk, Astrid had responded.

A collective gasp came from around the fire as the bruise covered little blonde wreck emerged from the cave. Olvor quickly moved to help Astrid over to the fire and she sat between Hoark and Stormfly where she placed her arm around the dragons neck and firmly scratched under its jaw. Without opening her eyes, Stormfly nuzzled the girl and gave a satisfied growlish purr.

Olvor began to explain "Astrid and her dragon..."

"Stormfly!" Astrid interrupted.

"...and Stormfly" Olvor corrected "left for berk last night before the storm to bring back some important supplies for me and only returned this morning at first light."

Another round of murmurs moved through the group.

"You rode your dragon all the way to Berk and back in one night and in that storm?" Olaf exclaimed "It took us more than two days to sail here in good weather."

Although Stoick had realised the night before how different life would be with dragons as allies instead of enemies, this was the first time it truly struck home to the other Vikings.

"We could all fly back home today" Thorfinn exclaimed but then wondered "could we?"

"I know I won't be" Olaf was determined "I'm never going up on one of those again."

Stoick stood up for the meeting was getting a little out of hand.

"I'm sure it's not as easy as just giving a dragon a fish and then riding it to Berk and I don't think Fishlegs was suggesting that were you lad?"

"Oh no sir" he agreed with Stoick "I thought that we could simply show the wild dragons that they could trust us. We can start to train them later when they get more used to us."

"Fishlegs is right sir" Astrid spoke up "Hiccup told me that it took him more than a week of trial and error to ride Toothless. The other dragons like Stormfly here, had been imprisoned for a long time before we tried to train them. Hiccup had spent all night befriending them before we started and although I don't know exactly what he did, if we follow Fishlegs advice on winning over the wild dragons with fish and friendship, it should be worth the effort."

Sigrid nodded thoughtfully "That Zippleback saved us much time and effort getting those shipwrecks ashore which enabled us to have the salvaged supplies in our hands before the storm so if that's not worth a few fishes, I'll go spare."

Stoick still had one more question.

"Where is this island with the water Astrid, how did you find it?"

"Erm... last night we had a bit of trouble getting back."

"No kidding" mumbled Gobber.

"I... well... fell off" she lied not wanting to admit that she had leapt off her dragon on purpose when the bottle had fallen out of the bag "and Stormfly had to dive down to catch me and we crashed onto a beach."

"You fell off and the dragon saved you?" questioned Spitelout. "It didn't just fly away and leave you to die then."

Everyone present looked toward the sleeping dragon with a new respect. It was understandable to them for a rider to make use of a dragon in battle for they had seen that with their own eyes but for the beast to show such care and loyalty was something that none of them would ever have considered.

"Yes she did save me but after the long flight, the storm and the crash she couldn't go on any more so we rested for about half an hour until the light came. As the wind died down, I could hear water behind me so we went to look and found a large fresh water rock pool being fed by a waterfall. It looks like it's only full after a rain storm but there's plenty there now."

"How far is this island?" Stoick sounded pleased

"Well after we both had taken a drink, I looked out over the ocean and could see Dragon Island near the horizon. It only took us a few minutes to fly back."

"Right then" Stoick stood up and began to give the orders.

"Fishlegs; take your Gronckle for a flight around the point and let Olaf's group know to make their way back. How long should it take them Olaf?"

"About an hour I'd say" came the reply.

"Good. Sigrid; you and Thorfinn get your teams ready to raise that longship later today if possible. Spitelout and Fjori; you two grab a net each and anyone you need to help and bring in a catch before lunch time. Snotlout; you take a look from your dragon and see if you can spot school or two for your dad and Fjori and then collect any empty kegs you can and take a trip to Astrids island for more water supplies and the rest can help out where needed and get the camp sorted and expanded ready for tonight. I'd like to think that everyone will have a place to sleep tonight when they're not on guard so if there are no questions..."

Stoick silently looked about him for a few seconds "Right, let's get to it."

As everyone took to their appointed tasks, Stoick placed his hand firmly on Fishlegs shoulder and spoke low "Good job lad for a first council. Come and see me when you get back. I've got another little task for you."

"What would you like me to do Chief?" said Astrid wearily.

Stoick spoke firmly "Get back into that cave and don't come out until you are fully rested, understand?" he stared sternly into her eyes until the look of protest left them and she slinked away, back to bed.

"Good!" he was satisfied.

Now that the meeting was done, Olaf came to enquire of the Chief.

"So then Stoick, what's happened to young Hiccup then?" and the proud father told the tale.

**Hi readers. Inbetween working, writing, sleeping and feeding the cat, I am slowly getting through the proof reading so I can get the other chapters up. Thanks to one and all for your kind words and I will just keep writing (as Dory would say) till I run out of ideas or I fall off the pearch. Marty.**


	8. Chapter 8

8 Much To Do

The sun was high overhead when at last her eyes flickered open. Taking a deep breath, Stormfly stood up with a big yawn and long stretch. Even though she had slept away the morning, the effects of the last night's long and wild journey meant that she still felt like an absolute wreck on legs and so she decided it was time to freshen up a little.

It was a pleasant stroll down to the pebble covered beach past all the Vikings who were seeing to their important tasks and the day was bright and joyous but although the sun was warm, the air was still quite fresh and she knew that the water would be almost as cold as ice. With virtually every step someone would call out and wave to her and in return she would simply nod her head in return. Approaching the shore, she fearlessly braced herself against the cold and dove in with a splash and instantly felt more awake and alive as the near freezing water enveloped her completely. Turned back toward the shore, the dragon stood in the shallows and began to duck it's head under the surface and then lifted it to the sky over and over letting the water wash over her till she felt ready to climb out of the water and face the rest of the day. A small crowd of people had gathered to watch her as the Vikings had never seen a dragon acting in this manner before but they were not the ones Stormfly truly wanted to be with. If only fish boy and the girl were here now then she would be one happy dragon indeed.

"Hey there girl" Fishlegs greeted Stormfly as she walked back into the camp wet but clean, to await the return of her rider and friend.

Fishlegs and his Gronckle had returned from their short trip around the headland over an hour ago after receiving a much better reception from the Vikings of the second camp than Snotlout had the previous evening. The group that Olaf had led during their escape from the giant dragon had come close to killing Snotlout's dragon when it had swooped in and landed nearby because its rider failed to consider the fact that these Vikings had not seen the Dragon Riders fighting the monster and had no knowledge about their new alliance but when a Gronckle approached them flying low, the fighters had carefully noted the round boy riding it and kept their weapons down. A Gronckle is a deadly foe and a formidable ally but does not look as imposing as the Monstrous Nightmare with its long claws and fiery visage. The Gronckle even looks friendly with its circular shape and natural smile. It was not surprising to Fishlegs that many wanted to get closer and even touch it so he took the time to show them where dragons liked to be scratched and it wasn't long before they were all so comfortable together that many were even wanting to ride the beast.

"Olaf looked terrified when young Snotlout had taken off. We could hear him yellin' all the way to the point but it looked like fun to me" Odd surmised.

"I'm sorry everyone but Chief Stoick told me to go straight back for more orders" Fishlegs informed them. "We've only got five trained dragons and two are grounded at the moment and one is ridden by Ruff and Tuff so I'd better get back. I do hope to start training more dragons as soon as Stoick gives the okay so you should be able to ride one then."

As Fishlegs and his Gronckle lifted off, Odd watched them sombrely.

"It's amazing" he pondered out loud "I bin a killin' dragons all my life and now I actually feel sorry for the one being ridden by the Thorston twins."

A general murmur of agreement filled the air as they turned to pack up their camp.

* * *

The tempting aroma of fish cooking on a hot rock wafted into the cave and Astrid's mouth began to water as she awoke once more. Four more hours sleep had done wonders and now her head was clear enough to feel the pain in her body and the stiffness in her limbs. As her mind snapped into consciousness, her thoughts turned straight to Hiccup and she checked the nearby rock only to find it bare with no Hiccup and no Yak skin covering. Astrid inhaled sharply at the thought that Hiccup had awoken and she had slept right through it so she rushed to the cave entrance and ran straight into Olvor who was coming the other way.

"Whoa there what's the hurry Astrid?" asked Olvor as the much shorter girl bounced off her.

"Where's Hiccup, is he okay?" the young girl blurted out.

Olvor grabbed Astrid's shoulders and turned her back around to the opposite side to the cave where a roughly built, three plank bed had been placed with some faintly glowing rocks beneath it.

"I needed to get him off the rock when the cave began to get cool down" the surgeon explained.

"I'll get Stormfly in here to heat up more rocks..." Astrid began.

"Oh no you won't" Olvor was adamant "Hiccup will explode if you bring a flame near him with his dressing soaked in alcohol."

Astrid panicked "Won't the rocks set him off?"

"Don't worry we tested them first and we did it well away from the cave. It turns out that when pour the alcohol on a red hot rock, it just boils away but when it gets near a flame, WOOF up she goes so now we simply bring in warm rocks from outside and put them under this wonderful bed that Gobber knocked up and 'Odd's your uncle' one nice warm convalescing hero. I must admit though that I would feel much better if he were out of this cave and back in a warm house on Berk."

Astrid moved over and sat on the edge of the bed and put her hand on Hiccups arm. She could feel the warmth of the rocks on her ankles as she began to wonder if he would ever wake up at all. Shaking off such maudlin thoughts, she arose once more.

"Well I suppose I had better go and see what Stoick need me to do" and she made for the exit.

"Wouldn't you like to clean up a little first?" Olvor remarked casually.

Astrid stopped dead in her tracks and looked down at herself. She was by no means a vain person but had always kept herself and her attire neat and clean. As she felt her wild and unkempt hair, she began to see the doctor's point and sat back down on the bed.

Olvor picked up a bowl and a cloth with a keg of water and knelt down next to Astrid. She filled the bowl, wet the cloth and began to clean up the pretty but filthy little face. The water was cold but refreshing and it helped Astrid to feel more awake just as it had done for Stormfly during her recent swim.

As Olvor wiped around her neck and down her arms, Astrid sighed. "Thank you, I'm glad you stopped me from going out there like this."

"Oh; so you don't remember the meeting outside the cave this morning. You made quite an impression."

Astrids eyes widened with the realisation and memory of the event "Oh no! What did I do?"

"As I said, you made quite an impression when you emerged from the cave looking like baby Yak."

Astrid let her head fall back and she moaned at the memory.

"But you made a much bigger impression with your announcement of your water find and support of Fishlegs."

"I supported Fishlegs?" Astrid looked puzzled "what for?"

"With his idea about feeding the wild dragons to gain their trust and moreover, everybody was stunned into silence when they were told of your little trip to Berk last night, oh and nice name, Stormfly; strong and invokes feelings of sturdiness and reliability."

"Rrrrrrrmmmmmm" Astrid moaned "I'll never live this down." Olvor was quite annoyed at this comment.

"You won't need too. You came across to those Vikings as a force to be reckoned with and as somebody who will go to any lengths to get the job done no matter what the personal cost to you and without bragging about it afterwards. Now take off your boots."

Astrid began to feel ashamed of the vanity that she had always managed to keep in check in the past when Olvor hit her with a blindsider.

"So then, how long have you and Hiccup been um...friends?" she smiled knowingly and raised her eyebrows.

* * *

Fishlegs had come up with the idea of Gronckle fishing when he noticed several wild dragons diving into the water and bringing up some large fish to eat while the Vikings could only catch some smaller ones close to shore; it had happened like this.

When the boy had returned from his trip around the headland, Stoick had given his permission for a trial in feeding and training the wild dragons but only when enough fish had been caught to feed the tribe for the rest of the day so Fishlegs had wandered down to lend a hand with the fishing. Fjori was sympathetic with his desire to get started on the dragon training but the catch was low.

"Sorry lad but with all the fishing boats back on Berk, we can't get out to the big schools."

Fishlegs had his first brainstorm "The fishing boats! Snotlout and I could fly back to Berk and sail one here."

"Nice thought lad" Fjori replied "but they're not as fast as a longship. It would take you three days at least to sail one here not to mention they're not built for the open ocean, just for offshore fishing trips."

A genuine look of disappointment came over Fishlegs face as he helped Fjori and the others pull in another catch of six fish only eight to ten inches long. They looked so small in such a large net and although both the Viking and their dragons would all eat today, the wild dragon training would have to wait. That was when he noticed a wild Monstrous Nightmare standing on a rock sea stack with a fish that must have been over two and a half feet long in its mouth. It tossed the fish up in the air and swallowed it whole as another idea began to form in Fishlegs mind.

"Mr. Fjori sir, can you tell me what you think of this idea please?"

"What idea is that son?"

"Well, we can't throw the net out far enough to get the big fish so why don't I carry the net out on my dragon and throw it right on top of a large school. It should be better than having a boat because I could see exactly where the fish were before I drop the net."

Fjori wondered if it could indeed work.

"Your dragon is strong but you'd never lift a net full of fish."

"I wouldn't need to. I could tie the line to the Gronckles collar rope and pull the net to the shore while it was still in the water. Then I would land the dragon and we could all pull up the net together."

Fjori's eyes grew wider.

"That is worth a try and besides if it don't work, we'll be back bringing in the small ones soon enough."

The large net was heavy on the Gronckle's back but it didn't have to fly very far with the load. Fishlegs urged the dragon to lift off and fly out to sea about fifteen feet up and he guided it to where the wild Nightmare had caught its lunch. Looking down, he could see a dark mass moving around below the surface so he positioned himself near the centre of the blobbish mass and heaved the net from the Gronckle and watched it fall with a splash. As it sank into the water Fishlegs guided the dragon toward the shore but the drag of the net was greater than he had anticipated and the Gronckle strained against the rope with its feet touching the surface of the water. Changing his strategy a little, Fishlegs pulled back on the rope collar and slowed the Gronckles forward movement allowing it to gain a few feet in altitude while still progressing toward the shore at a slower pace.

From up on the beach Fjori could see that the dragon was having difficulty with the load and he instantly knew that he would need more help. The dragon made steady progress until, three long minutes later, it reached the shore where Fjori, Spitelout and eight others stood ready.

The Gronckle flew over the men and landed behind them as they grabbed the rope and began to pull. Fishlegs jumped off the dragon and ran to help while encouraging the Gronckle to keep walking up the beach. The Vikings began to cheer as the top of the net broke the surface and size of the catch was apparent but then the progress halted when the base of the net struck the floor beneath. Fjori called to the other Vikings preparing the ship salvage operation to come running for there were more fish than they could handle. The cheering crowd even ran into the water to pull on the net when no more space for them could be found for them along the rope.

As the load moved up the beach, a part of the net was caught on the side of a sharp rock and tore a hole the size of Fishlegs in the side. Fjori walked over to where the biggest pile of fish he had ever seen was pouring out onto the beach. Making an obvious gesture, he picked up a fine looking cod and lifted it over his head to the roar of the crowd and then made his way up the beach to the Gronckle and offered it the fish. A hush fell over them as the round dragon sniffed the fresh meal and then another cheer erupted when it took the fish with delight.

Spitelout slapped Fjori on the back and gave an order for all the dragons that were helping them to be fed and for fish to be taken to Toothless and Stormfly up at the cave. As a few Vikings began cleaning and gutting some fish for lunch and the crowd began to return to their work, Fjori went over to Thorfinn.

"How are the things looking for the ship raising?" he asked.

"Not bad, we've knocked up a low ramp with some of the salvaged wood and placed it over the submerged rocks so we don't do any more damage to the hull but we have to take care not to rip the bow off when we start to pull. It's probably stuck in the sand don't ya know" Thorfinn informed his friend.

"Well... I'll tell you what I do know; young Fishlegs has come up with an idea that just may help you out too" Fjori grinned knowingly.

* * *

"YOU KNOW!?" Astrid yelled at Olvor.

"Oh I'm not the only one. Stoicks defiantly noticed and Gobbers been making the occasional sly comment. So come on girl, tell me all about it. Has he kissed you yet?" Olvor knew she was prying but did not care at all.

"N-no" Astrid stammered "he hasn't kissed me..."

"Oh, so you've kissed him then. That's surprising; I always thought that he was the one with the massive crush, while you seemed quite aloof and distant with him." Olvor finished wiping Astrid's feet and stood up to get 'her doctoring bag'.

"Well that's kind of how it was between us but a few days ago, things changed when he kidnapped me."

"Hmmph... that is a surprise. I've known Vikings to kidnap girls from other tribes but not one who lives a few houses away and Hiccup never seemed to be the girl snatching type. I mean, even Stoick was just a romantic in his younger days."

"Really, Stoick?" now it was Astrids turn to be surprised.

A Viking surgeons professional life consisted mainly of cutting off badly damaged limbs and sewing up deep wounds with the occasional fang, claw or splinter removal so the contents of Olvor's doctoring bag consisted of nothing more than a sharp knife, a bone saw, two needles, cloth patches, some woollen pads and her flask of alcohol (now smashed) but down in a small side pocket was her one acknowledgment to her gender; a hair brush.

"Oh yes" Olvor continued the conversation as she began to untangle the wild animal that was Astrids hair. "He would sing beautiful songs of love to Hiccups mother before they married and treated her like a princess afterwards."

"What's a princess?" Astrid asked.

"Oh no ya don't, I want to hear of this kidnappin' not get sidetracked on to other things so what happened?"

Astrid recounted once more about her discovery of Hiccups secret and the romantic flight through the clouds that had changed her mind about his dragon. She went on to tell of how Toothless had taken them to the giant beast and shown them that it was the source of all the trouble between the Vikings and the dragons. It was a story she would be asked to tell many times during the next few weeks.

"When we arrived back on Berk, I wanted to tell everyone about our discovery but Hiccup stopped me and I could see the torment in his eyes. He cared so much for the dragon, his father and his tribe but he just could not see how it was possible to make everyone understand. After all, he had to force me into seeing the truth and he couldn't do the same with everyone. I didn't listen and neither would they." Olvor stopped brushing as Astrid sighed "My heart went out to him and that was when I kissed him."

"Ahem"

The two ladies jumped to their feet in surprise as Stoick entered the cave and the brush fell to the floor.

"Forgive me for listening, I err... came to see my son and... well... thank you... Astrid for helping me... to understand."

Stoick walked over to the bed and placed his hand on Hiccups head.

"Rest well son... and when you wake up, don't blow it. She's worth the effort."

Turning back to the women, he smiled and nodded to Olvor and then gave Astrid huge bear hug.

"Thank you" he repeated and left the cave only stopping to say over his shoulder "There's plenty of fish... if you're hungry."

Olvor and Astrid just stared at the cave mouth as the huge man departed. Their faces bore the same look they would have if one of the fish was singing sea shanties.

"I think you have his eternal appreciation." Olvor was adamant.

"I'm not exactly sure what that really means" Astrid exclaimed.

"It means that he will always trust your opinion and I believe that you may have just become one of our Chiefs youngest advisers but don't let it go to your head."

"How can I advise the Chief? I'm only fourteen years old."

"Only for another week and besides, it only means is that you should be honest when asked and don't rush to speak when not. Follow his orders and you'll find it's easy; I've been doing it for years.

Astrid thought of how she would soon turn fifteen and suspected that this would be a time in her life that would take some getting use too.

* * *

The camp had changed considerably by the time the Vikings sat down to enjoy the mid day meal. The main fire outside the cave had been totally redesigned, which was a strange thing to do to a fire. It was now an amazing new kind of dragon fired cooking area that consisted of a shallow pit about six feet across that the Vikings had filled with smooth rocks from the seashore. Slightly taller rocks also sat in the pit forming a horseshoe shape near the edge onto which flatter rocks and salvaged iron plates had been placed. Snotlout's Nightmare had been employed to heat the pit upon its return from Astrid's Island and many fish had already been cooked on the flat rocks and iron plates.

The fire to the side where the dragons had formerly sat was now Gobbers work area where he and several assistants were doing their best to get anything constructed or repaired that was required by the Vikings but with only a limited amount of time, tools and resources, he was developing quite a backlog of orders.

The furthest fire from the cave now resembled a little village with the bows of several longships now inverted to become shelters and lined up on either side of the sail frame that had been raised that morning.

Olvor and Astrid left the cave and went to sit near the fire that had grown significantly since she had last seen it during the morning meeting. Seeing Toothless and Stormfly sitting together with a small pile of large fish each, she went and sat between them and began to scratch each one. Although Stormfly seemed very happy to be surrounded by admirers and food, Toothless was more morose and Astrid was sure that he was pining for his friend lying in the cave nearby. Odd came over with a small piece of plank wood with a side of cooked salmon on it and handed the meal to her. Like many of the Vikings, he was still a little nervous around the dragons but did not want it to show especially in the presence of a young girl who had just hugged a Night Fury.

"I've been hearing a little of your adventures" he told her "well done lass." And he returned to his meal.

In between mouthfuls of fish, Stoick addressed the group.

"Well I am very happy to say that we will all soon be totally fed up with the taste of fresh fish."

All who heard laughed in agreement as they filled their bellies.

"I'm just glad there is no more pickled herring for Gobber" shouted Sigrid "Whew what a pong."

Even louder laughter ensued.

"So how are we going with the longship" Stoick asked "will we be ready to bring it up today?"

"Should be ready for the first attempt about an hour after lunch" Sigrid replied

"Aye Chief" Thorfinn added "the new fishing method has given us some ideas that may help."

Stoick was a little confused "What new method?"

"Well Chief, almost all of these fish were caught in one haul." Fjori told the amazed Stoick.

"One haul? You're kidding me."

"Nope I kid ye not. You see Chief we was having a slow time of it, when Fishlegs has the idea to fly the net out on his dragon and drop it right on top of the fish and this is what we haul up."

"Well done Fishlegs" said Stoick proudly.

"Indeed" Thorfinn picked up the story as Fjori now had a face full of cod. "So we figure that we could do something similar to get more lines on the ship so we don't tear it in two when we start to pull."

"Well done everyone, err... more fish please."

* * *

After the big meal, the beach became a hive of activity as the tribe readied themselves to bring up the ship from its, hopefully not final, resting place. The main rope was wrapped around and tied to the bow with thirty six Vikings ready to pull. A large loop with a rope on each side had been dropped by a hovering Gronckle over the stern of the longship with the left rope harnessed to the Zippleback and the right rope, to Snotlout's Nightmare. A final line had been looped around what was left of the mast with the other end tied to a small floating log of wood.

"I think we're ready to go Chief" Sigrid said with anticipation.

Stoick strode down to the centre rope and called for attention.

"Right then; don't forget to listen to every instruction and be ready to move if things go wrong." He grabbed the rope making thirty seven Vikings on the centre line.

Sigrid began the operation "All lines take the strain!"

The ropes creaked as Vikings and dragons tensioned themselves to pull.

"Go Astrid!"

Stormfly and her rider lifted off the beach and flew out to the log, picking it up in her claws and beginning to move from right to left and back again, over and over."

Sigrid looked over the scene and continued "Okay pull everyone and dragon handlers don't get ahead of the centre line."

The ropes tightened and the Vikings strained as Stormfly continued to move back and forth attempting to break the hold that the sand held on the ship. Thorfinn stared intently at the black rag that hung from the centre line ready to signal Ruffnut when the rope and therefore the ship, began to move while on the opposite side Spitelout readied to give the same signal to his son.

Astrid was sure that she and Stormfly were moving a little further with each change of direction and her anticipation rose. Back on the shore the Vikings continued to strain against the rope with every one of them turning pink and then to red.

"That's it everyone pull."

Spitelout and Thorfinn both saw the black rag move six inches back and they both called to the dragon handlers nearby."

"Now!" they shouted as Ruffnut and Snotlout led their dragons forward.

Astrid could feel the ship begin to move so she redirected Stormfly toward the beach and continued to pull on the mast rope giving Sigrid an excellent gauge as to the ships position. The two dragons on shore risked damaging the rear of the ship if they moved too fast so Spitelout and Thorfinn continued to keep a close eye on the alignment of the black rag and directed the dragon handlers appropriately. The Vikings on the centre line felt a new resistance on the rope as the bow of the ship came into contact with the wooden frame that rested on the rocks below. As the ship moved up the frame it lurched forward due to the lower friction of wet wood on wet wood and several Vikings fell over backward but rolled sideways before they were trodden on.

"Not too fast" Sigrid warned "get the rollers."

Those who had fallen got up and ran to small piles of round poles and began to lay them on the beach in front of the Vikings pulling back on the centre rope. They would not roll in the pebbles but would prevent the keel from digging in and being damaged as well as keeping the ship high for inspection and repair. Almost simultaneously the bunt off mast and the figurehead broke through the surface of the water and soon after, the ship was sliding over the rollers and up the beach.

"Get to the stays" came Sigrids final order. She was pleased that their preparations had proven to be so worthwhile as the operation came to a satisfying end

Snotlout and Ruffnut slowed their dragons to a halt while the Vikings placed wooden props along both sides to hold the ship upright much to Astrid delight as Stormfly could not keep it balanced all night. As the props went up at the stern of the ship, the dragons on the side ropes were untied and allowed to roam at their pleasure once more while Stormfly lowered the log and rope onto the deck and flew off up the beach.

"WELL DONE EVERYONE" Stoick bellowed as Gobber and Thorfinn surveyed the damaged hull.

"One more task complete and now one more to begin" Gobber imparted his wisdom too all.

**I first wrote the begining of this chapter without mentioning Stormflys name to see if I could fool some readers into thinking it was Astrid until the big reveal when Fishlegs says 'Hi there' to the dragon but when I did the first read through, it just sounded way too creepy and I did not want to take the story that way so names went in. Thanks again to all the reviewers and a new chapter is coming soon. Marty.**


	9. Chapter 9

9 The Hand That Feeds

The Vikings who had come together and joined forces to raise the longship, now left the beach and returned to the camp and surrounding areas to continue the tasks that needed to be done toward building the camp or leaving the island. Stoick the Vast stood back and let his people get on with the inspection of the hull and the assessment of how it could be made seaworthy again while many others continued to strip the unrepairable wrecks of every last piece of useable wood and iron. He had sent Snotlout and the twins on a trip to Astrid's Island, after she had been able to confirm that it did have trees on it. They were ordered to cut a new mast and replenish the water supplies because a busy Viking is a thirsty Viking.

Stoick could sense somebody behind him and he knew that nervous silence too well.

"No need to ask" Stoick said to Fishlegs with his gaze undiverted from the ship "take all the fish you need and good luck with the dragons."

"Err... thank you sir but we've had requests from the others in the tribe" Fishlegs informed the Chief.

"Requests, what for?"

"Well... to get some dragons for them too so they can train them like ours. They seemed very impressed with what we have been able to do with the dragons and they are very eager to learn how it's done."

Stoick considered this and began to wonder if the tribe could handle more dragons. He had no idea what they would be like in a larger group but as he looked around, the wild dragons all seemed very content with their new life free from the giant beast that had kept them in bondage for so long. Some flew above the island and some were off shore diving for food but most just sat around watching Vikings for entertainment or sleeping in the warmth of the sunshine.

"Do you think you could do it?" Stoick was beginning to think that Fishlegs may be getting a little over confidant.

"To be honest I'm not really sure sir. We figured the best thing to do would be helping everyone to approach and feed the wild ones and see how we go. A kind of learn together thing"

Stoick considered this carefully and he was pleased that the boy didn't seem to be rushing ahead. He also doubted that the five dragons now with them would be the only ones to return to Berk and so the whole tribe would need to learn how to interact with a dragon.

"Sounds like a plan, do your best."

"Thanks Chief" Fishlegs shouted over his shoulder as he ran off.

Gobber approached having finished his first appraisal of the ship.

"Good news Chief, it's the Sharktooth one of our best. There's a hole the size of a Gronckle in the starboard bow and some damage to the port gunnel where it looks like the mast hit it, oh and the stem post is gone."

"How long?" Stoick asked.

"I'll have the hole done this afternoon thanks to all the gear we've already stripped from the other wrecks. Thorfinn has already gone to get what he'll need to do the gunnel and we'll be ready to raise a new mast by mid afternoon if we get a good tree that is."

Gobber didn't even flinch when a pine tree landed behind him with a loud crash as two large dragons landed nearby.

"How's this one Gobber?" Tuffnut yelled from high on the Zippleback's left neck.

"Looks fine lad" Gobber remarked after a brief inspection.

"Is it long enough to get a yardarm out of it Gobber" Stoick asked.

"No need Chief, we dragged a few good ones up with the wrecks yesterday. Oh well, off to work then" and he went to take measurements of the hole.

* * *

"Oh my" gasped a surprised Fishlegs as over fifty Vikings looked at him expectantly "I didn't expect so many."

"Don't worry Fishlegs I've got an idea" Astrid reassured him and spoke to the crowd.

"I'm sorry everyone but when we approach the wild dragons, we'll have to do it in a smaller group so Fishlegs and I can only take two people each."

There was a general groaning amongst the Vikings till Starkard spoke everyone's mind.

"That's four at a time, it will take forever" and everyone agreed.

"But if we succeed then we will have four more people with dragon experience who will be able to help another eight so it shouldn't take too long but first we have to see if the wild dragons will let us approach them without too much trouble."

The Vikings weren't happy waiting as they all wanted to be first to go but eventually Astrid picked four of the best leaders hoping that they could take over as Viking trainers and she could get back to Olvor and Hiccup.

Soon she and Stormfly were walking off toward a flock of Nadders with Odd and Agnar while Fishlegs and his dragon went toward the headland with Freya and Ack where he had seen some Gronckles when he had flown by that morning. Toothless was looking much stronger after lunch and although he took a lot of coaxing, Astrid managed to get him to come with the group of hopeful dragon trainers strolling up the beach. Astrid felt almost as strong a bond with Toothless as she did with Stormfly partly because he was the first dragon she had ever ridden but mainly because he was Hiccups dragon so taking care of Toothless while Hiccup lay unconscious was her way of saying 'Don't worry about anything, just relax and let me take care of the rest.'

Stormfly walked along by Astrid's side carrying a bag of fish and feeling very contented to be helping her little blonde friend. The Night Furies head hung low as he walked with them and Astrid feared what would become of him if Hiccup... she took a deep breath because she did not want to think about such things now but she was determined that Toothless would not be left alone should the unthinkable happen.

The group of three Nadders had watched the Vikings scurrying around the beach all day with fascination, especially when they were with dragons but this was the first time any of them had come so close. Although the two dragons in their company seemed very contented to be with the humans, the wild dragons all stood up and began to back off a little as the strangers grew closer but settled back down when the whole group stopped and sat down nearby.

"Okay" Astrid's heart raced "you both know the plan so let's give it a try."

The wild Nadders were paying close attention as Astrid rose with her back to them and took the bag from Stormfly and gave it to Agnar. She then turned back to her dragon and began to rub her left cheek and neck."

"Good girl, thank you for carrying that heavy bag for me" she cooed to the dragon who relished in the attention and gave Astrid her I'm-a-happy-Nadder growly purr.

"Right, here we go."

Odd and Agnar sat with Toothless while Astrid led Stormfly nearer to the other three Nadders stopping only when they took another step back. She rubbed her dragon's neck again and sat her down, hoping she would stay when an idea came to mind.

"Odd" she said in a soft voice "change of plan; come here slowly and hold Stormfly for me."

As Odd took hold of the rope he began to scratch the back of her head.

"That's it, you stay with me girl" he reassured the dragon.

"Second try" Astrid took another step towards the middle of the group.

As she moved forward, speaking reassuringly to the group, they began to step back in different directions allowing her to step in to the middle.

"Hello" she smiled at them but they kept their distance and one began to growl.

Stormfly and Toothless both reacted instantly to the threatening sound and sprang to their feet and roared at the wild Nadders. They returned the roars to Astrid's protectors and took a few more back steps. Astrid rushed back to Stormfly and calmed her down.

"It's alright girl, come on then, sit down."

She began to wonder if it had been such a good idea to bring her own dragons after all. Astrid had thought it would help to show the wild dragons that they could trust her but she had not taken into account how protective Stormfly and Toothless would be if she were in danger.

"I'd better stay here with Stormfly" she stated the obvious to Odd "maybe you should be the one to give them the fish."

Agnar opened the bag and Odd took out three good sized cod. Taking a few step forward he addressed the group.

"Hello there Nadders. Err... um... these are for you" and he tossed a fish to each one in turn.

The three dragons looked to each other and then back to Odd. Slowly they moved forward and sniffed the fish in front of them while continually looking around and making sure that this was no trap. The dragon on the right opened its mouth a few inches and hooked the tip of its beak on the fish and dragged it back eventually picking it up and stepping back suspiciously. As it finally swallowed the fish, the other two Nadders took the fish in front of them and ate with delight.

Odd stood smiling at the dragons for a while until the first one made a soft sound to him.

"Crawck"

"Oh, would you like another one then?"

The dragon took a few steps forward as Odd went back and got three more fish from the bag and returned to the same spot. He threw two fish to the other dragons and then held the third up to the dragon closest to him. It turned its head from side to get a good look at the offering and then stretched out its neck and took the fish in its mouth stepping back once more before swallowing.

"Arrawk carrarr"

"Yes" Odd grinned widely "good isn't it?"

The Nadder turned to the sea and took off, flying high over the sea stacks and to the horizon.

"Oh" Odd was surprised "I thought we were getting somewhere for a while."

"Never mind" Astrid consoled him "the other two are still here and they still look hungry."

A sudden cry filled the air as the Nadder returned; it flew in and dropped a fifteen foot freshly killed shark at Odds feet and then landed nearby.

"Err... thank you" he acknowledged by putting his hand on the sharks back "I think."

"See if it will let you get closer" Astrid whispered.

Odd stepped over the shark and held his hand out as if to shake its claw but it just looked at him with more suspicion so Astrid stepped back to Stormfly and scratched her neck again. The wild Nadder seemed to get the idea and it took a step towards Odd who did the same as he touched the dragon's cheek.

"That's a good little shark killer, Odd's your friend now."

* * *

Although everyone was impressed that Astrid, Odd and Agnar had returned with three new wild Nadders, the team with Fishlegs had brought back seven Gronckles although two were no bigger than a chicken and one was the size of a one year old sheep. With all the new dragons milling around just outside of the camp, a large crowd of Vikings began to gather which made the Nadders a little nervous so an unofficial dragon training lecture was called around the large cooking fire while Odd, Freya and Ack took care of the ten newcomers.

"Sorry everybody" Astrid began "but these new dragons are not really used to being surrounded by people yet. Well... we did learn a bit about taming wild dragons and it's not easy but anyone willing to be patient and careful could try their hand at it today."

A cheer went up and Astrid began to wonder if they had heard the part about being patient. Agnar stood to speak hoping that an adult voice would make the eager Vikings more willing to heed their warnings.

"Chief Stoick was right when he said you can't throw a fish to a wild dragon and then just jump on its back. We made one tiny error and almost ended up with a raging dragon fight" he exaggerated for effect "so you have to go slow and be ready to back off if the dragon decides he doesn't want to be friends, after all you have an island full of dragons here and they are not all the same so if one gets cranky, try another one."

"That's right" Fishlegs continued "my Gronckle was very helpful in getting close to a group of others but Stormfly and Toothless got very protective so you have to go slow and I mean very slow and let the dragon get use to you."

They spoke for another ten minutes about approaching and talking to dragons, when to offer a fish and where they liked to be scratched but then Gobber arrived and commandeered seventeen Vikings to help fix the ship and to raise the mast. The disappointed group slunk off to do their work while the rest helped themselves to a few fish each and went off in search of dragons.

"Do you think they'll do okay?" Fishlegs wondered out loud.

"Sure" Agnar reassured him "as long as they don't rush things, they'll do fine."

"I dunno" Astrid was worried "most Vikings I know are not known for their patience and tact."

"Well neither are dragons" Agnar smiled.

"Yeah I know... and that's what bothers me."

* * *

Snotlout and his Nightmare had just re-heated the rock pile at the cooking fire and were about to head back to the beach to help with the mast when Olvor stopped him for a brief chat.

"That's quite the dragon you have there son."

"Yes Ma'am" he patted the Nightmare on the flank proudly "he's the best of the lot. Strong, fast and can turn a tree into a pile of ash with one breath."

"Impressive indeed but I wanted to ask you this; I remember when you all arrived here yesterday, Stormfly was carrying both Hiccup and Astrid so could this beast of yours carry you and I all the way back to Berk today?"

"Sure he could but I think Chief Stoick needs us here to help with the ship and stuff."

"Yes he does but I think I'll go and have a talk with him about that. Thank you Snotlout."

"Err... no problem" he looked confused as she walked away but that was normal for Snotlout.

As Olvor made for the ship, she saw Astrid and Fishlegs riding on their dragons both on the ground and in the air in an attempt to show the new dragons that carrying a Viking was nothing to be afraid of. She found Stoick overseeing the repairs and called to him."

"Time to take a break from all that Chief and have a chat with your favourite bone cutter."

Stoick stood up. "You flatter yourself, my favourite bone cutter is the one that took Gobbers leg" he laughed.

"Oh thank you very much" Gobber dripped with sarcasm "if you're gonna be like that, you can fix your own ship."

He strolled away with Olvor out of earshot from the others.

"Good to hear you making jokes again" she noted.

"Ahh... I'm still very worried but I can't let them see that."

"But we're doing so well" Olvor was surprised

"True but for how long? We came here on over twenty Longships and now we only have one so even with a full load of Vikings, a five day round trip to Berk means that it'll take nearly two months to get everyone back and that is if... If everything goes smoothly so we're not out of the woods yet."

"I glad to see you are fully aware of the situation" Olvor smiled "it should make it easier for me to convince you to give your permission for my crazy little plan."

"What plan is this then? I've really had my fill of crazy plans for one lifetime."

"I'm worried about Hiccup" she stated bluntly.

"Hmm as am I...Wait, what's happened?"

"Calm down, nothing's changed but I don't want to leave him in that cave any longer. I want to take him back to Berk; now."

"Well he'll be on the first trip back but I don't think we'll have the ship ready to go till the morning."

"No good and I don't want to put him on a ship for two or three days either. I want to take him back now and I want to take him back by dragon."

She stared at him sternly and waited for him to explode. It was a short wait.

"WHAT! ARE YOU MAD? I'M NOT SENDING HIM BACK ON A DRAGON IN HIS CONDITION, HE'LL DIE!"

"Right" Olvor kept calm "now you've had your little rant..."

"I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU KILL HIM WITH YOUR CRAZY PLAN" Stoick turned red.

Olvor knew he would not be easy to convince so she changed her tactic and drew her sword and offered it to Stoick.

"RIGHT THEN YOU STUBORN OLD GOAT; YOU KILL HIM THEN IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT!"

Stoick stared at her engulfed with rage until finally he was ready to listen.

"Alright... tell me why then."

Olvor wanted to hit him on the head so she took a deep breath and imagined it in her mind. It made her feel much better.

"The fact that he has not woken up yet, means that he still has a lot of healing to do and the best place for that is in a warm house under Gothi's care not lying in a cave or getting covered with sea spray on a heaving deck. It's still daylight and the weather is good and he flew here with Astrid on Stormfly so I know the dragon can carry them both back as well. So I want to get him wrapped up, onto that dragon and back to Berk before nightfall and Snotlout will take me too so I can keep an eye on him. Once we've got him settled in with Gothi, I'll come back with the riders to help you to keep your head on straight."

"Oh that's my job" Gobber stated while eavesdropping "best you stay with the boy I think and I'll take care of Chief grumpy pants here."

"Please stop calling me that" Stoick fumed.

"You wish."

"Take the twins too. I want you to have a back up dragon if anything goes wrong."

Without waiting for any reply Stoick strode off to see Astrid while Olvor and Gobber went back to the ship to tell Snotlout and the twins.

* * *

**I was glad to end this chapter with the promise of adventure because most of it was very dull to write - it was longer and duller before two rewrites Chapter 10 will be up within 24 hours and has one of my favorite Astrid bits with more of the twins in it too.**


	10. Chapter 10

10 Going Home

As Toothless watched Stoick and Olvor carry Hiccup out of the cave and over toward Stormfly, Astrid held the worried black dragon's neck and comforted him as best she could while the boy wrapped in yak skin went past.

"Don't worry Toothless; you know I'll take good care of him."

She lifted his huge head in her hands and looked straight into those big green eyes.

"You know that I will and you'll see him in a few days anyway" although she wished she was truly as confident as she pretended to be.

"Come on Astrid" Olvor called "you first."

Stormfly sniffed at the bundle being taken passed her and was pleased to recognise the unmistakable aroma of the fish boy and he was still alive. After Astrid had climbed up and taken her seat, Hiccup was lifted into position in front and two ropes were wrapped around his chest and leg to hold him in place. Toothless cried out to them as they flew away and Astrid had to struggle a little with Stormfly to stop her from flying back to the forlorn Night Fury but it saddened her to leave him behind.

Olvor knew that she could not take her time to get accustomed to flying on the back of a dragon as she had to keep one eye on Hiccup and the other on Tuffnut and Ruffnut as well as doing her best to keep Snotlout in line and all at the same time which would not be simple.

"Come on you guys" Tuffnut shouted "last one back to Berk has to wash Gobbers underwear for a month."

"YEAH!" shouted Ruffnut as they raced away.

"Get me close to Astrid please" Olvor requested.

"You got it. COME ON DRAGON; UP" and they rose much faster than she would have liked for a first flight.

"Just keep flying smooth and steady Astrid" Olvor called as they drew near "don't you worry about the twins."

Astrid gave the 'Okay' sign and kept climbing slowly.

"We can catch them if you want" Snotlout hinted for although he knew his job was to keep Olvor close to Astrid and Hiccup, he was itching to show off his skill and his dragons speed.

"You've got two minutes to try and then we have to get back here"

"Right" and he patted the Nightmare's neck "GO DRAGON."

As they picked up speed and altitude, Olvor began wish that she had never eaten that last piece of fish but the Nightmare was indeed a fast dragon and they were soon flying just behind the twins on their Zippleback and about twenty feet higher.

"Just bring me in close enough for them to hear me Snotlout"

"Not... a... problem" he said with confidence as he guided the dragon in toward the twins. As the distance between the two began to close Olvor was not shy in showing her annoyance.

"CAN YOU TWO FOOLS REMEMBER WHY WE ARE UP HERE?"

"Yeah we're racing to Berk" Ruff was clearly too excited to think.

"NO WE ARE NOT; SO STOP THAT DRAGON NOW!"

Ruff and Tuff sat up and looked at each other puzzled and then they looked to see precisely who it was that sounded so angry with them. The looks on their faces changed glacially slow as they stared at Olvor and began to remember the one legged boy on the dragon behind them.

"Oh... yeah...err sorry" Tuffnuts apology actually sounded genuine as he and his sister turned their dragon back toward Astrid far behind.

* * *

Stoick and Gobber stood staring at the sky after the twins had raced away and collectively shook their heads.

"I know it was me who said they should go along but I'll still tear their heads off if they cause any trouble for Hiccup."

"Don't worry Stoick, remember it was those two who got Snotlout off the giant beasties head yesterday so they must know what they're doin' even if they are a pair of mutton heads."

"You fill me with such confidence sometimes; this just isn't one of them."

"Come on now Chief you know you made the right decision. Even if the ship was ready to go now, a quick flight is better than a long sea voyage and we know the lengths that Astrid will go to for Hiccup. She loves him and she proved to us last night that she would die for him."

"But she shouldn't have to Gobber, that's for me to do after all I am his father."

"And maybe someday he will need you too, but today it is Astrid that he needs and she will get him home."

Stoick was not only the Chief of Berk but also the mightiest Viking for several generations so he was not accustomed to depending on others so absolutely. It was something he would have to get used to.

* * *

Hiccup's face felt far too cold for Astrids liking so she removed her right glove and placed her hand under the hood to warm him while she held the rope tightly with her left. She had noticed a distinct drop in temperature as Stormfly had gone higher so she directed the dragon back down and they now flew straight and level about twenty feet above the sea where the air was not nearly as cold. She wondered if Snotlout and Olvor were progressing in their task to retrieve the twins although she was glad that she and Hiccup could enjoy some time alone together, it was such a pity though that they could not chat. Astrid had noticed that all the engaged and married women she knew on Berk had given their men cute little names that only they would use. Names like Sugar Plumb and Lovey Pie so she began to wonder if she should come up with a similar name for Hiccup for now that Stoick, Olvor and particularly Gobber knew about her feelings for him, there was no genuine reason for her to pretend otherwise. As she considered this, the trio flew on to Berk totally oblivious of the dark shape behind them and below the surface of the water.

Looking up at the sky, Astrid figured the sun would touch the horizon in less than three hours and by then they would be about three quarters of the way to back Berk so, barring any delays they would arrive about fifteen minutes before dark and she could live with that.

"How are you feeling Sweetie, nice and warm?" 'Oh no, that sounds horrible' she thought. Astrid was glad that no one could hear her, not even Hiccup as she tried out these pet names that felt very uncomfortable and alien too her.

"Sorry Hiccup I could not live with myself if I had to call you Sweetie. I know, how about Hunnybun? Urrgh, no that's even worse."

Maybe pet names where simply not her style. Two small dots appeared in the distance ahead of her and as they grew larger, Astrid knew that she and Hiccup would no longer be alone for the rest of the long journey.

"Is it my imagination babe or is Snotlout coming in way too fast?"

There was no doubt about it; Snotlout was defiantly coming in much faster that he should be and on top of that, he was diving straight at Stormfly.

"What does this idiot think he's doing?" she wondered.

Her peaceful flight with Hiccup was now totally ruined by the shock of seeing a crazed Monstrous Nightmare closing in on her and about to let go with its fire burst attack.

"What the..."

Astrid leaned over Hiccup to protect him as the huge streak of yellow flame passed over her head followed closely by the Nightmare that sent it. The two dragons passed by so close that a sudden gust of wind hit Stormfly making her falter a little. Astrid turned her head back to see what Snotlout would do next and saw the flame of the fire burst, that had missed her by inches, slam hard into the head of a wild Scauldron only a few feet from the tip of Stormflys tail. Roaring in pain, the massive green dragon plunged back into the sea and disappeared as Snotlout and Olvor turned in a large sweeping arc and pulled up alongside of Stormfly.

"You're welcome gorgeous" Snotlout was very pleased with himself and stuck out his chest in a heroic pose.

"YOU IDIOT!"

Astrid knew she should be grateful that the Scauldron had been fought off before it could take down Stormfly and her two passengers but the close pass and the fire burst had her rattled more than a little.

"You could have blown my head off you moron."

"Come on my darling, you know I would never hurt you" his smile turned her stomach "you're my lady"

"She's right you show-off" Olvor hit him on the side of his helmet with a loud clang. "be more careful next time."

"And I am NOT you lady" Astrid was adamant.

"But you will be" and that stomach churning smile returned once more.

"Astrid" Olvor called "why are you flying so low?"

"It was colder up there and I'm trying to keep Hiccup as warm as I can."

Olvor agreed with her about the importance of not letting Hiccup's temperature drop but the Scauldron had her spooked so she decided on a compromise.

"Okay but let's go up a little bit higher please"

So as the Zippleback fell back into formation, the three dragons rose up another twenty feet and continued eastward to the Isle of Berk.

* * *

Five ropes spread out from the top of the new mast to guide it and keep it steady as Fishlegs and his Gronckle lifted this second to last piece into place while four Vikings held the base of the pole firmly from slipping off the cut stump of the old mast. As it rose upright, Fishlegs released the lifting rope giving full control of its position to Stoick and the holders of the five guy ropes as Gobber positioned the two semi circular metal plates to form a tube around the base of the mast. He wrapped another two ropes around the top and bottom of the tube to hold it firmly while he fitted the rivets down the edges and drove home the rods through the centre. Stoick looked satisfied as he admired the newly repaired Longship that now only required a yardarm and sail and to be loaded with supplies to make her fully seaworthy again. He and Gobber were giving one final check to the former hole in the starboard side when the unmistakable sound of dragon wings drew near.

"Oh no" Stoick's blood turned cold as the Monstrous Nightmare flew up the beach toward them.

"It's Snotlout; something must have gone wrong on their journey home" he jumped to the conclusion.

"Now don't go getting your knickers in a twist till you're sure" Gobber advised "he may have come back with... wait a cotton pickin' minute... that's not Snotlout... that's Sigrid!"

"YYEEEEEEHAAAAAA" yelled Sigrid the Strong with delight as she and her dragon flew past the two stunned Vikings with a loud Whoosh.

"Look at the size of that dragon" Gobber declared "it's huge!"

There could be no doubt that this dragon was much bigger than Snotlouts as Sigrid was a much bigger Viking but she looked very small riding on this mighty beast. Dragon and rider flew up the left side of the smouldering volcano and down the right and back toward Stoick causing the ship to wobble slightly as they zoomed by. After one more turn around the sea stacks, Sigrid brought the Nightmare into land halfway up the beach. She jumped off onto the pebbles and pulled a fish out of her bag.

"Whoa that was fun" she gasped and held up the fish "I think you deserve this."

The mighty head dropped down to take the offered food and tossed it high before snapping it out of the air and swallowing it in one gulp. Sitting back down, the dragon brought its head level with Sigrid who grabbed its neck in a bear hug.

"Who's a good dragon then?" she cooed as she rubbed its chin "you are, you're a very good dragon."

"What the..." Stoick was at a loss for words "How did you... Where?"

Sigrid laughed "Impressive isn't he? Gentlemen, meet Buttercup; I found him inside the volcano."

"Inside?" Gobber and Stoick repeated simultaneously ignoring the dragon's name.

"What possessed you to go in there ya daft crazy nutter?" Gobber was his usual pleasant and understanding self.

"HA... I wanted to see if there was anything different in there and... well" she gestured to her new best friend.

* * *

The sun had dipped gently below the horizon as the trio of dragons approached the Isle of Berk and Astrid began to relax at last. Although most of their trip had been without incident, the memory of the Scauldron and her concern for Hiccups safety had kept her nerves on edge for over three hours but he would soon be inside his own home and out of danger. 'Maybe then he will wake up' she hoped but had a distinct feeling that the reasons behind his long sleep ran much deeper than simply being far from home but it was all she had to hold on to and so she would.

"Okay everyone listen up" Olvors words snapped Astrid back to the present as she called out her orders."

"We don't know how the other villagers will react when we approach on dragons so Snotlout and I will go in first and make sure it's safe for Astrid to bring Stormfly in to land near the Chiefs house so hang back and keep an eye out just in case. You never know, there may be somebody manning the catapults."

"Gothi knows about the dragons" Astrid called back.

"Yes so everything should be okay but I'd feel better if I could be sure. We'll send up a flame shot if all is well and you can come in then."

Olvor gave Snotlout the signal to go and they quickly gained speed as they flew up toward the island while the other two dragons simply stretched their wings and glided.

"How is Hiccup doing?" Ruffnut called out to Astrid.

"Oh... fine I guess" she replied "but he's very cold so I'll be glad to finally get him home."

"You like him don't you?" Ruff insinuated with an accusing smile.

'Well' thought Astrid 'here's my chance to finally stop denying everything to everyone'

"Yes I do" she shouted back feeling somewhat free and liberated by the admission.

"I knew it" Ruffnut punched the air and turned to her brother "a girl can tell you know."

"So how did you know then?" Tuff remarked sarcastically "OWW"

Astrid smiled at the twins for she was almost home and even their fighting seemed right and normal once more.

"THERE" she called out as a burst of flame went up from Berk "there's the signal, let's go Stormfly."

The blue Nadder beat her wings a little harder and it was not long before they had crossed the coast and were approaching Chief Stoicks house and home. With almost no warning a boleadora struck Stormfly hard from beneath and wrapped itself around her legs causing her to turn half over, knocking Astrid and Hiccup so badly that they almost fell.

"RUFF, TUFF, HELP ME!" she cried out as Stormfly did her best to fly straight and lift them all away from danger.

"We're here Astrid" Ruffnut called back.

"What happened to us?"

"Your dragon got hit by one of those three-rocks-on-a-rope thingies. Try to fly straight and I'll get it off her legs for you."

Stormfly struggled under the weight of the rocks as well as her passengers as the Zippleback moved under her to help the stricken dragon."

"Hold 'em steady" Ruffnut called to her brother as she tried to untie the ropes.

"You got it sis, steady as she goes."

The rope was knotted so tightly that she soon gave up and pulled out her hunting knife, cutting off the first rock and letting it fall safely away. She was halfway through the second rope when Stormflys leg caught her on the side of the head causing Ruffnut to drop her knife.

"Damn! I loved that knife" she cursed "TUFF! KNIFE! NOW!"

"Here ya go sis" came the reply as he passed over a very familiar looking blade.

"Hey; this is my hunting knife so what did I just drop?"

"One of Dad's old ones. I swapped them over cause yours is so cool" Tuffnut declared proudly.

"You miserable son of a bridge troll when we get down from here I'm gonna kick your butt from here to next Snoggletog."

"RUFFNUT HURRY!" came Astrids desperate cry.

"Oh yeah" Ruffnut remembering her task.

The favoured blade made quick work of the last two ropes and she soon had Stormflys legs fully untangled once more.

"Thanks you guys" Astrid acknowledged "come on, let's get back to the village and watch out for more attacks."

"We were safer on Dragon Island" Tuffnut realised as Stormfly and the Zippleback made a sweeping half turn.

"Yeah" Ruffnut agreed "weird huh."

"Totally."

As the dragons returned to the village Astrid could see Olvor at the bottom of the steps that lead to Stoicks house, shacking her fists at a small group of very angry villagers while Snotlout tried to untangle his dragon from a net nearby.

"I'm going up to the door. See if you can make a fire barrier halfway up the steps."

"You got it" Tuffnut replied "if there's one thing we love, it's making fire."

"Yeah" agreed Ruffnut as they purposefully bashed their helmets together.

The twins guided their Hideous Zippleback into a long and fast pass over the face of the hill leading up to the home of the village Chief. As they came in closer, the right head began to release its noxious flammable gas in a forty foot stream along the ground that was soon set alight by a spark from the left head causing a huge fiery explosion that totally blocked all access to the stairs. Soon after, Astrid brought Stormfly in as close as she could to the front door of the building and leapt off.

"Down Stormfly" she ordered the dragon and as it sat, she pulled Hiccup off the dragons back as gently as she could manage and lowered him to the ground near the door. Standing up again Astrid held her hands under Stormflys face and looked onto her eyes hoping she would understand."

"Stormfly; guard Hiccup" and she turned the dragons head toward the yak skin covered boy.

"Do you understand?"

Stormfly did not know what the girl was saying but she seemed to be very concerned with fish boy so the dragon stood and moved over to him and then sat back down with Hiccup between the dragon and the door.

"Good girl Stormfly; Stay"

Astrid drew her knife, pulled the hood of her coat over her head and ran down the steps toward the still raging line of fire and without hesitation, leapt straight through landing roughly on the other side. She rolled over once and clambered to her feet, quickly taking in the scene around her. Snotlout was still trying to keep several elderly warriors away from his dragon while Gothi helped Olvor by hitting some of them with her staff. Three more had been trying to get up the steps but were being held back by the flames and they were now in a slight state of shock as this berserk little blonde came flying through the fire roaring like a wounded bear.

"ANYONE WHO DOESN'T BACK OFF NOW GETS THIS KNIFE IN HIS GUTS!" she screamed so ferociously that two of them had a little accident in their undies. "UNDERSTAND?"

They slowly began to back off as Astrid moved forward with both hands on the knife handle matching every one of their steps and glaring at them with a look that would haunt their dreams for many years to come.

"B-b-but the dragons..." Mulch stammered.

"Do they look like they're attacking, you morons?" Olvor moaned in frustration.

"Well the Zippleback does." He replied with confidence.

"I HAD TO TELLTHEM TO DO THAT BEFORE YOU TROLLS FINALLY SUCCEEDED IN KILLING HICCUP." Astrid was finding it very hard to calm down.

"Where is hiccup? We haven't seen him for days."

Astrid was panting so hard she was starting to hyperventilate and that helped her to calm down a little.

"He's at the top of the stairs being guarded by Stormfly" she tried to explain but Mulch was confused.

"Who's Stormfly?" he wondered out loud.

"MY DRAGON YOU IDIOTS!" Astrid lost it once more. She was getting quite good at it.

With all the commotion, the attacking had finally ceased although the Vikings were still not sure of a few facts. Why were Snotlout and Olvor helping a dragon, why was the dragon was letting them and when did Astrid become a Berserker? Now that Gothi had finished hitting Vikings, she walked passed Mulch's group and approached Astrid who still possessed a crazed look in her eyes and still exhaled every breath with a snort like an angry bull.

Fortunately Astrids rage was only directed at those whom she considered to be a direct threat to Stormfly and, by association, Hiccup so Gothi was in absolutely no danger from the wild girl unless she should decide to throw her staff at them; she did not. Gothi did, however put her hand on Astrids arm causing the young girls eyes to flick back and forth between Gothi and the former attackers whom she still did not trust as far as she could throw a Gronckle which was not very far at all. The fire behind Astrid began to die as she realised that Gothi was pointing her staff at the Great Hall and tilting her head in the direction of the Vikings and all became clear.

"You should all go to the great hall" Astrid declared still panting.

"Now hold on there a moment missy" Mulch was taking his life into his own hands now "a young girl like yourself should not be tellin'..." Mulch would soon regret saying this.

"GET UP TO THE GREAT HALL – NOW!"

Mulch's regret was complete.

"I would go if I were you" Olvor added "just let us take care of the dragons and we will meet you there within the hour and explain."

"Well it better be a damn good explanation is all I can say" Mulch moaned as they all walked away to the Great Hall feeling like they should not have been spoken to like naughty children by one of their naughty children.

Astrid dropped the knife and began to shake. Burying her face in her hands, she sank to her knees and began to sob uncontrollably as Olvor came over to comfort her.

"It's alright Astrid" she said consolingly "it's not easy to come down from such rage but you can do it. Breath deep and relax."

"I ALMOST DROPPED HIM! THEY ATTACKED STORMFLY AND... and... and... he could have died... again. WHY WON'T HE WAKE UP?" and she started to cry once more.

Olvor hugged her as she sobbed. The doctor knew it was never easy to stay in total control and to do what needs to be done when you are so stressed and worried about something or, in this case someone and it was the main reason Olvor was so concerned about Stoick for he was just as worried about his son but he was also deeply concerned for the welfare of the tribe and it was becoming impossible to do either one without compromising the other. She helped Astrid to her feet.

"Come on let's go take care of Hiccup"

Snotlout finished untangling his dragon from the net and was following them up the steps when he noticed Astrids fragile emotional state and decided to help, unfortunately.

"Hey Astrid don't worry I'm fine so no need to cry."

"rrrrrrrRRRRRAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!"

Astrid lunged at him with the murderous look back in her eyes but luck was with Snotlout as Olvor was ready and held her back although it was not easy to do.

"If you want keep living" Olvor advised "you should take your dragon down to the arena and settle him down for the night and take the twins with you."

Snotlout backed off with his eyes wide in fear and decided that his dragon needed his help more than this wild and ungrateful person so he trotted off back down the steps as Olvor threw the still snarling Astrid over her shoulder and made for the top where Gothi was giving Hiccup a quick once over. As they reached the door step where he lay in his yak skin wrapping Astrid had given up her rage once more and hung limply on Olvor's shoulder like a clump of seaweed mumbling in muffled tones as her face rested on Olvors back "Let me kill Snotlout, just for once please let me kill him. It won't be painless but it will be quick".

She felt something rough nuzzling her arms and realised it was Stormfly who was worried about her little friend. A smile crossed Astrid face as she realised that she was once more in the company of those on whom she could rely.

"Hey Stormfly, good to see you girl."

Olvor put Astrid back on her feet and bent down over Hiccup as Gothi listened to his heart. When she was done they lifted Hiccup and took him inside and placed him on a bench away from the door and the fireplace. Olvor looked around the dark, cold home and decided it was time to change the atmosphere so she sent Astrid outside with some thick pieces from Stoicks wood pile for Stormfly to set alight. Knowing that a direct Nadder flame would destroy the wood, she directed the dragon to throw her flame out away from the house while Astrid held up the wood and set fire to the ends. As she was about to walk back inside, a warning bell went off inside her head and she stopped and called out to Olvor.

"Wait; won't this make Hiccups leg catch on fire?" she took a few steps back from the door.

"I'm glad you remembered" Olvor chuckled "but there is no alcohol on his leg any more, it would have evaporated long ago during the flight back."

Still moving with care, Astrid entered the house and used the burning branches to light up the brazier and the home was soon lit by a soft warm glow.

"I'm going to get some things from my house Gothi, I'll be back soon."

Olvor walked to the open door where Stormfly stood looking in nervously.

"It's alright you can come in."

* * *

**Well it's almost 2:30 in the morning and I'm off to bed. Goodnight everyone, Marty.**


	11. Chapter 11

11 The Day of the Dragon

As the sun neared the horizon on Dragon Island, the pebbly beach was a hive of activity as a small group of Vikings loaded up the re-launched longship Sharktooth with supplies of dried fish and drinking water while in total contrast, about thirty more were indulging in the more enjoyable task of Dragon Training.

"Agnar was right when he said that dragons are not all the same" Sigrid commented to her chief as they walked down from the camp.

"My little beastie took to having a rider in no time while some will take hours just to build up enough confidence to take a fish from your hand but so far the Gronckles seem to be the most easy going and quickest to gain trust in a Viking.

"But not really the smartest of the bunch" Gobber commented as he approached from the ship "I think that honour would go to the Nadders. They always appear to be watching and thinking and generally trying to understand everything although I bet they get most of it wrong inside those big, round brain boxes of theirs.

"Gobber" Sigrid noted "you truly astound me sometimes."

"Oh thank you very much Sigrid."

"It wasn't a compliment."

"Well in that case; May your dragon burn your undies to ash every wash day"

"What was that about?" Stoick was a little surprised.

"New dragon curses. Here's another, ahem; May the droppings of a thousand dragons..."

"Alright then Gobber, I don't think we need a new line of dragon curses today."

"Mr. Grumpy pants strikes again."

"GOBBER!" Stoick was turning red.

"Alright, sorry."

"Sigrid was trying to fill me in on how the dragon training was progressing but it will have to wait now thanks to your constant interruptions."

"Well if you're going to be like that, I won't tell you the news that the Sharktooth is ready to set sail."

"Look at the sun Gobber she can't sail now, they'll never get passed the sea stacks before dark."

Stoick was worried about the way this conversation was progressing due to the secretive grin that Gobber was giving them.

"Do you think so Chief? Well come and have a little look at this then."

Ahead of the three, the Sharktooth sat bobbing in the water attached to the shore by only a gang plank and five ropes that ran from the stem of the ship to five smiling Gronckles standing on the beach.

"You see what we have here Stoick is another fine example of Viking dragon utilisation and cooperation. When Fishlegs flew around the area on his Gronckle, Ack here noticed that the others would follow him in a kind of V pattern in the sky so he thinks that since the Gronckle is such a slow yet powerful beastie, then why not harness them to the bow of a ship and get them to assist the sails."

"Does it work?" Stoick was amazed but doubtful.

"I can't see why it wouldn't" chimed in Olaf as he joined the group.

As Olaf was the first Viking to declare that he would never go up on a dragon again, it was decided by all of the other longship commanders that he should be the one to take over the Sharktooth from Freya as she, like the rest of them was more interested in flying a dragon back to Berk rather than in sailing there.

"We've got a high tide that is about to turn and the ship is ready to sail so the plan is to set off under Gronckle power and see if they will follow young Fishlegs as his dragon leads us out past the sea stacks" Olaf concluded.

"And do you really think they will pull you all the way back to Berk? I seriously doubt that" the Chief sounded sure.

"Well no" Gobber added "but once they are out in the open ocean, then it's drop the sail time and just let the Gronckles assist until they get tired and then they can land on the deck for a nice little dragon nap until they're ready to go again. We even figure that the ship may reach Berk by tomorrow night with a favourable wind and good Gronckle conditions."

Stoicks eyes lit up "and then you could set sail from Berk the following morning to return here for the next load home."

"Well that's the other thing Stoick. The ship may not need to return because everyone who wants to go back to Berk by ship can go on the first journey. Most of the tribe want to fly back on a dragon and we may even have to force a few to go on the Sharktooth so she'll have a full crew although it is debatable that Olaf will need a full crew with the all the Gronckles."

"I'm not sure this will work" Stoick was concerned "surely not everyone can fly a dragon yet."

"Well no" Ack admitted "I'm even finding it slow going trying to get the hang of the finer points myself but I'll get there in the end and so will everybody who wants to keep trying and we do want to keep trying."

"It's amazing" the Chief admitted "I've had so much to do with the camp and the ship, keeping track of the supplies and everybodys safety, not to mention Hiccups leg, that I just kept on assuming that we would all return by ship with a few dragons flying alongside."

"It's no surprise you thought that Chief" Ack added "so did I until a few hours ago."

"And even though I knew I'd be flying back to Berk, it never occurred to me that another forty or more would want to join me" Sigrid admitted "it's just all happening before our eyes and it may take us weeks or even months to come to terms with it all."

"I haven't even given it a go yet" Stoick realised.

"No time like the present then; come on Chief and I'll show you what Fishlegs and Snotlout showed me."

Thinking about riding a dragon was so exciting that at last Stoick began to understand how the others were feeling and he suddenly realised that being so busy for the last few days had meant that he simply could not keep track of everything the tribe was going through no matter how much he believed that he had.

"Olaf get the Sharktooth ready to shove off. Gobber you and Ack pass the word around that I want everybody in earshot of the ship when I get back; Sigrid, let's go."

Sigrid and Stoick were soon flying out over the sea stacks on Buttercup, the biggest Monstrous Nightmare any Viking had ever set eyes on and lived to tell about it afterwards. They took a quick trip around Astrids Island while Sigrid explained how to guide the dragon in altitude and direction by giving it small signals through the rope collar and by leaning the rider's body. Stoick was relieved to find that it was so simple and intuitive as the rider and dragon only had to work together and not fight each other as he had assumed.

"I can really see why Hiccup likes dragon riding" Stoick declared when Buttercup landed back on the beach "oh Hiccup, I hope he's alright."

"Well now you've had a go at it, you can see how much safer it is than you would have thought so I'm sure Hiccup got back okay. Besides, I hate to say it but even the twins have had a lot more experience with dragon riding than I have and your boy is with Astrid who looks to me like the best rider there is and she was taught by Hiccup, the most experienced rider of us all. Olvor was right and he was better off going back with Astrid than going by ship even if it is Gronckle powered."

"Well I can't argue with that logic" the Chief conceded.

The crowd Stoick was about to address was much larger than the group that had heard him at the same time the previous evening for this time, almost everyone had a dragon with them.

"This morning we cleaned up after last night's storm and rebuilt the camp that I thought would be our home for several weeks but now it appears it will only be needed by most of us for just one more night. The Sharktooth will set sail in only a couple of minutes time and I am told that only a few of you want to sail with her while the rest will be quite happy to fly your dragons back to Berk when you have learnt how to control the little beggars."

As was usual the crowd roared with laughter at Stoicks good humour. Vikings are so easily pleased.

"So anyone who wishes to sail this evening, get your selves and your gear onboard now and all those who can ride well, can escort the ship out past the sea stacks and then join the rest of us back at camp where we'll make plans for tomorrow. Are there any questions?"

"When will you be headed home Chief?" Starkard called from the back.

"At the moment I intend to be the last off the island unless we get word of any problem on Berk. Anyone else have a question? Right then let's get to it."

Stoick watched his people scatter to, what was this time, their chosen task instead of the usual appointed task. Only three Vikings were currently on the deck of the Sharktooth and that was not even close to being enough help for Olaf to sail her back under normal circumstances but nobody would ever say this situation even close to normal.

"Fishlegs m'boy, how confident are you that this will work for us?"

"I'm pretty confident Chief. When Ack first told me about his plan we tried it out on one of the old burned out hulls and it worked a treat. I got my dragon to just hover in front of the bow with a little bit of pressure on the rope and the other four just flew into formation and dragged the ship for twenty feet until I stopped and landed and they weren't even trying hard."

"That's wonderful but why do you think these beasts seem so eager to help us? I just can't figure it out for the life of me."

"I've been working on a theory about that Chief if you'd like to hear it"

Fishlegs liked to tell people his ideas but they did not always want to listen but Stoick was developing a new respect for Fishlegs and his abilities.

"Indeed, tell me lad."

"Well sir, when Astrid told us how she and Hiccup had first come here, she said that the dragons were scared of the Red Death... err... that's the name I've given the giant dragon, and how they would be eaten if it wasn't happy with the food offering they gave. So when we come here and kill the beast that was so cruel to them and then start feeding them and being kind to them, then they actually want to please us out of gratitude."

"That's a very good theory Fishlegs."

"Oh and they love having their tummies rubbed too."

"Indeed; well if you're right that may explain why thing have gone so well for us today."

"Right Chief and this could be the start of a beautiful friendship."

"Humph" Stoick thought about the boys words "I wish I'd said that."

* * *

Olvor and Gothi entered the Great Hall to the sound of Vikings arguing almost to the point of fighting but they all fell silent as two of the most respected members of the tribe walked up to the end of the room and stood at the head of the large oval table that surrounded the fire pit. The two women had taken their time in redressing Hiccups leg, giving the angry tribe a good chance to get angrier and declare to each other how discussed they were that the dragons had been treated better than they were and how the young Vikings should be punished for what they had done.

"Where's Astrid?' someone shouted "She owes us an apology for what she's done."

Olvor looked at the crowd and saw that they were not in the mood to listen to reason so she decided to try and turn the situation around. If Stoick were there he would have been able to order the attack on the dragons to stop but in his absence, Mulch was in command and so disobeying him was the same as disobeying Stoick. Olvor needed them all to believe that that she was the one in charge now and they were the ones who were disobeying the Chiefs orders. When this was achieved then the Dragon Riders would no longer be in such deep trouble.

Olvor knew that this was very unfair to the Vikings and that she was about to take a huge risk by replacing Mulch as reserve Chief of the tribe. When Stoick found out, and he would find out, he would be expected to hand out a severe punishment for if anyone were to take the Chiefs position at the Great Hall, it would be seen as a challenge to his leadership unless that person spoke for the Chief and had his permission, which she did not.

"I speak with the authority of Stoick the Vast; Chief of Berk" she lied "and I speak to the members of his tribe. Will you hear me?"

It was done and now Olvors place in the tribe was in great peril for if Stoick did not approve of her taking this liberty, he would have to banish her from Berk forever or lose the respect of his people.

"We will hear she who speaks for our Chief" Mulch gave the traditional reply and Olvor spoke.

"The warriors of Berk did land on Dragon Island yesterday morning and prepared the defences to lay siege to the dragon's home."

A collective gasp went up and a chatter moved around the hall. They had been trying to find the dragon's nest for so long but had always failed and all those in the hall had become too old to make any further attempts but Stoick had succeeded and proved himself to be Berks greatest ever chief.

"On Stoick's order, the catapults opened up the side of the volcano where the nest lay but instead of attacking, the dragons all fled."

Olvor called for calm as a huge cheer filled the hall and she continued.

"But as they fled a mighty roar came from within and a giant dragon, of a type not seen before, broke out and attacked us. It stood almost as high as the mountain itself and with one breath of flame it destroyed the entire fleet."

Eyes were wide and mouths dropped open as everyone stood in stunned silence wondering how many of their friends still lived.

"The rocks from our catapults bounced off its hide and left no mark to show the place where they had struck. Chief Stoick gave the order for all to retreat to the far side of the island while he heroically distracted the beast. He did intend to sacrifice himself to give his people the best hope of escape. The beast was advancing on Stoick and Gobber when, from out of the sky, four dragons attacked the giant and saved us all. These dragons were ridden by the young trainees and led by Stoicks son, Hiccup."

The listener's faces now wore looks of astonishment and confusion as she told them of how Stoick had released the Night Fury from its bonds and of Hiccups battle in the clouds but when she came to the explosive destruction of the giant and Hiccups injury, every head dropped and every eye closed. Olvor knew that the next words she spoke would be Astrids only chance of redemption in the eyes of those whom she had attacked.

"Stoick declared to us all that we should only ever attack a dragon if it threatens us and he followed this up by entrusting the life of his son, The Hero of Dragon Island to Astrid and her dragon Stormfly so when she defended him against your attack, she did so under the express orders of her Chief."

"W...w...we... d..didn't know..." Mulch stammered "is the boy alright?"

"He lives but he still has not awoken."

Olvor was beginning to enjoy the power she wielded and decided to go for broke.

"But do not worry, for I will speak to Stoick on your behalf and explain to him that you had no way of knowing that the dragon carried his son and that you were defending the village with your very lives but I do think you should give your apologies to Astrid for trying to knock her out of the sky."

The trouble was over... for now.

* * *

The welcome smell of cooked fish wafted down to the water as Stoick, Gobber and Agnar watched the Sharktooth disappear into the distance with its skipper Olaf, eight crew, one boy and five Gronckles all making their way back to Berk. Several of the newest batch of Dragon Riders were now returning from ship escort duty to what many hoped would be their last night on Dragon Island. A very proud looking Deadly Nadder glided gracefully into land nearby and walked up to the three men.

"You should have tried it Agnar" Odd told his friend as he dropped to the ground "we saw the ship all the way to Astrids Island and I haven't had so much fun in years."

"My dragon is still a little skittish with a rider on its back so I didn't want to push it too far out to sea till I was sure he was ready for it."

"Very wise" Stoick agreed "so you enjoyed yourself then Odd?"

"Well you know what it's like Chief. So have you decided what breed of dragon your gonna train yet?"

"Not yet but something big and comfortable I think."

"So not a Gronckle then?" Gobber smirked.

"Very funny Gobber" Stoick didn't smile "but what about you? You haven't even been up yet."

"Well actually, with your permission I'd like to head back to Berk with Sigrid first thing in the morning. There's a few little tasks I'd like to get done as soon as I can if you don't mind."

"What kind of tasks, can't they wait till we get everyone safely back to Berk?"

"They could I suppose but have a look at this first."

Gobber bent down and began to draw in the sand with his finger. He drew a rough sketch of a person with a very strange looking left leg. Stoick's eyes grew wider as he began to understand.

"Oh... I err think we should have a word with Sigrid then."

"Good because I have another little plan I would like to run past you both."

* * *

The door to Stoicks home opened slowly with a soft creak until the face of a timid Viking could just fit through the gap but the horns of his helmet still had to remain outside.

"Astrid... Miss... can we err... can we come in please? We do promise not to hurt master Hiccup miss, really we do."

The youngest warrior was developing quite a reputation on two islands now but the worried men and women at the door were very fortunate that her rage had subsided as she sat in the warm room with the still sleeping Hiccup. When Gothi and Olvor had unwrapped his leg, the sight of it had made Astrid feel ill but she was determined not to look away. This was a part of him now and she would accept it for it was nothing to be ashamed of and if he awoke... she stopped herself, when he awoke she would make sure that he knew his leg had not changed the way she felt about him in any way. Olvor used the water and alcohol mix to clean his wound once more but did not soak the dressing this time but instead used one of Gothi's herbal concoctions that had a much more pleasing smell to it. She explained to Astrid that the new dressing would make the leg numb so Hiccup would not be in as much pain when he awoke.

Astrid looked up when the six Vikings entered the large room where she sat with only her dragon and the sleeping boy for company.

"Close the door behind you please, we need to keep this room warm."

The group was relieved that she spoke softly and politely as they approached her and they began to feel like this would not be so bad after all.

"We're very sorry about what happened and we want you to know that we would never have done it had we known the truth."

Astrid stood and looked straight at them which unnerved the men in the group as they were married and knew that the look she gave did not bode well for them but they found that they were wrong as she spoke.

"I apologise too for the way I acted but... well... it had been a very long day" she smiled and the men could relax at last.

"You could make it up to me if you want."

"Anything Miss; you just name it" they grinned feeling happy to get on her good side.

"Could you bring Hiccups bed down from upstairs please, quietly."

After making quick work of their task the four men and two women left just as Gothi arrived to check on the boy once more. She was satisfied with the sounds of his heart and breathing but was also pleased with the light snore that emitted from Astrid as she lay on the bench that was now freed up for her with Hiccup in his own bed again. Gothi smiled to herself as she covered the girl in a woollen blanket, put some wood on the fire and settled down in a chair next to the sleeping dragon.

Another snore went up as she soon joined them in slumber.

* * *

**I'm not sure if I am surposed to do this but I would like to dedicate this chapter to systemman and TheNightmareBringer. As I was sitting in a cafe writing chapter 5 of the next book, I could not help thinking of their advice and encouragement. The iced chocolate drink was good too. Marty.**


	12. Chapter 12

12 Preparations

Olvor stood a few feet away from her front door and stretched her arms up over her head as she indulged in a long slow yawn. The distant clouds glowed a bright yellowy orange in the pre-dawn light and it looked to be another perfect day for flying as she considered when to depart for Dragon Island again.

"After breakfast defiantly" she told herself "or maybe after lunch."

Shivering a little in the cold morning air, Olvor knew she had made the right decision to bring Hiccup back to Gothi's care and his warm home where he would no doubt recuperate much quicker than in a cold and damp cave. With two light taps to announce her arrival, she opened the door to Stoicks house to find Gothi stoking the fire as Stormfly lay curled up on the floor. The alert dragon raised her head and turned toward the door at the sound of Olvors entrance but was pleased to see another friendly face.

"Rraark"

"And good morning to you too Stormfly."

Olvor rubbed the contented dragons face as a sleepy eyed Astrid rose up from the bench on which she had slept the night away.

"Any change in Hiccup?" Astrid got straight to the point.

"Give me a chance, I just got here so why don't you go and get some breakfast for me and Gothi while we check him out?"

Now full of energy after a good night's sleep, Astrid pulled on her boots and made for the door.

"Come on Stormfly."

She held the door open as the dragon ducked under the lintel and the pair made their way through the town to the surprise of a few early risers who were still not used to seeing a young girl with a pet dragon and it looked to many as if it were chasing her as she fled until she turned around to run backward while coaxing the beast on. They arrived as Astrid's home, she signalled the dragon to stay while she went inside and rushed to the kitchen. Throwing open the window shutters she grabbed an armful of kindling wood from the box by the stove and returned outside.

"Okay Stormfly give me a small flame."

She rolled her hand away from her mouth as a signal to the dragon who took a deep breath and shot a flame out over the town square to the surprise of a frightened onlooker as Astrid lit the ends of the wood just as she had the night before.

"Good morning" she called to the shocked and wide eyed villager.

Re-entering the house she placed the burning kindling under the hot plate and ran off to the hen house.

* * *

Down in the arena Ruffnut and Tuffnut led their Zippleback out of the former prison cell, now dragon pen and into the morning light. Snotlouts Nightmare had refused to go inside the night before as it still saw the cage covered arena as a place of battle and oppression so he had taken it home with him since his house was empty because his parents were on Dragon Island.

"Whadda ya say dragon" Tuffnut asked "do ya wanna get some breakfast?"

"Of course he does" his sister replied "and so does mine."

"But... wait... yours is mine aren't they?"

"You just stay off my side of the dragon" Ruffnut demanded.

"Err... which is your side again?" he asked a little confused.

"The right side of course."

"Oh... so my side is..."

"The wrong side" Ruff grinned smugly.

"Yeah the wrong si... hey wait."

"Just grab the basket, get on the ugly one and let's go fishing."

Tuffnut did as he was told and the siblings flew off on their two headed dragon down to the sea. Each head took turns guiding the body in flight while the other head plucked a fish from the water as they flew. After each head was gastronomically satisfied Ruffnut got the attention of her side of the dragon and pointed to the sea. The idea was soon communicated and the right head pulled another fish from the sea and offered it to her.

"Hey moron" she called to her brother "gimme the basket."

He held the basket out to his sister who pointed to it and the fish. After looking inside the basket, the dragon looked back at Ruffnut.

"Go on then" she encouraged and the dragon dropped the fish in.

"Good dragon" she smiled and scratched its neck and then pointed down to the sea again.

Both heads soon got the idea and began to enjoy how they had managed to train the two young Vikings into scratching them in exchange for a worthless fish and soon the basket was full so they turned around to fly home again. They landed in the village square causing a few people to leap back in surprise.

"Wow" Ruffnut observed "it's not like Dragon Island. Everyone is so jumpy here."

"Don't worry sis, I have an idea" Tuffnut declared proudly as he jumped up on a stone block.

"Fellow Berkians; my humble sibling and I have just returned from a fruitful session of dragon fishing and we have this basket filled to over flowing with fine fresh fish with only a few small teeth marks on them. If you would care to share in this plentiful bounty please do help yourselves at no cost to you save for a scratch on the chin in gratitude for a job well done."

A few people approached cautiously and slowly took some fish from within the basket.

"So all you want for these fish is a scratch under the chin then?" one asked.

"That is correct my good villager."

The man shrugged his shoulders and scratched Tuffnut's chin.

"NOT ME YOU IDIOT; THE DRAGON!"

"I knew there'd be a catch" and he threw the fish back in the basket.

Tuff went over to his two headed buddy and gave it a hug.

"Oh come on people this wonderful dragon got all these fish for you because he... or they... whatever, only want to be your friend."

"I don't know boy" the man replied "it don't seem right havin' a Zippleback around a barfin' and a belchin' all over the place."

"Hey... cool names. Do you hold copyright?"

"Don't worry about the teeth" Ruffnut reassured the people "it bit me last night and it didn't hurt... much."

The man moved slowly closer to Tuffnut and the dragon, held out his nervously shaking hand and placed it under the left heads chin. The dragon gave one of its deep guttural purrs and sat down as the other villagers stepped closer to try their hands with the friendly beast. Astrid chose that moment to walk by with Stormfly and a tray of breakfast for Olvor and Gothi.

"Hey Tuffnut" she called out "good work."

"Thanks but the dragon caught all the fish."

Astrid smiled and shook her head "Can't even understand a compliment" she chuckled to herself. She felt something tug at her skirt looked down to see Little Freya, Freya's daughter with a fish in her hand looking up.

"Hello Freya, I was with your mother yesterday and she'll be home soon."

The five year old looked at Stormfly and asked "Would your dragon like a fish too?"

"I think she would so why don't you hold it up for her."

Stormfly looked to her pet girl for a clue when the small person offered her the fish but there appeared to be no protest or jealousy so she opened her mouth a little and gently lifted it from the little girl's hands.

"That's it Stormfly, good girl" Astrid reassured the dragon.

The dragon swallowed the fish and bent down to the small person who wrapped her arms around the big blue neck in a firm hug. Stormfly was very glad that her girl was mature enough not to get temperamental when the dragon played with other people, unlike that poor Zippleback's pets who were always fighting.

"Hey Ruff can you give me a hand with this tray for a minute?"

When Ruffnut took the tray, Astrid bent down and picked up Little Freya and placed her on Stormflys back.

"Come on then" she took back the tray "let's go deliver this breakfast."

Little Freya giggled with delight as she rode Stormfly across the square but someone did not like what they saw.

"I don't think Big Freya would approve of you putting her little girl up there" came the accusation.

"Oh you should see her mother's dragon" Astrid replied sweetly "it's a Monstrous Nightmare."

* * *

Snotlout Jorgenson was not foolish or stupid but he was a little lazy and had been known take the easy path even if it was not the wisest thing to do and taking a Monstrous Nightmare home for the night was not a wise idea at all. When the dragon had refused to enter the arena last evening, Snotlout had not tried to encourage it or allay if fears simply because he just couldn't be bothered so he had taken it home to spend the night with him and now he had to live with the consequences.

The average Viking home is not known for its delicate, craftsman built and highly polished furnishings but rather for a more basic decor of tables and beds made from logs cut lengthways, benches and chairs made with axes not lathes and planes so it would take a lot to damage the average Viking home. The Monstrous Nightmare is a lot of dragon.

"Astrid you gotta help me!" Snotlout pleaded.

"Umm... no I don't think I do."

"Oh come on; I helped you out with that Scauldron."

"You nearly shot my head off."

"And I helped you bring Hiccup the legless wonder back to Berk" he had struck her weak spot "I risked my own life for someone who will probably die anyway but when Snotlout needs help..."

Astrid cringed at his blatant insensitivity but she did feel that she owed him some help.

"Alright just let give Olvor and Gothi their breakfast and I come and help."

"Thanks; meet me at my house." Snotlout ran off satisfied to have his way once more.

After giving Gothi the tray, Astrid lifted Little Freya from Stormflys back but had a very difficult time trying to separate the two new friends without promises of many more rides to come. When girl and dragon finally arrived at the Jorgenson home, Astrid had to admit that she had underestimated the size of the problem.

"Wow" was all she could say but it did sum up the situation perfectly.

"Wow? Is that all you can say?"

"Err... far out?" she commented predicatively.

"So what do I do?" cried the desperate Snotlout.

"Are you kidding me? You clean it up of course. Haven't you ever cleaned your house before?"

"No... well... it's always sorta been clean when I got home."

"Did you think the house trolls just did it for you?"

A look of distinct panic crossed Snotlouts face.

"House trolls? Where?"

"Come on bright boy I'll show you" Astrid entered the former domicile.

"Hmm... I think the first thing to do is to get this dragon outside."

A sleeping dragon can be a peaceful and relaxing sight but if that dragon has a tendency to twitch and swish it's tale as it dozes it is not a good idea to let it sleep in a confined space.

"Come on dragon, wake up."

Astrid was surprised to find some of Mrs. Spitelout's underwear hanging from the Nightmare's teeth as it stood.

"What the..." she stared wide eyed.

"Mom likes to keep a cured ham with her clothes. She says the smell keeps dad interested."

A brief shiver moved over Astrid from top to toe as she removed the articles from the dragons face.

"It's a smell that obviously keeps dragons interested too" she noted "do you want to get this hook fanged menace out of here please?"

As Snotlout led the Monstrous Nightmare out to join the others in the morning light he subconsciously began referring to the beast in a new way.

"Sit here Hookfang and stay out of trouble."

He would later claim that the name had been inspired by the dragon's fierce countenance and would even come to believe it himself as he had no memory of the first time it had ever been mentioned. Astrid spent some of the next hour cleaning up Casa del Jorgenson but the most time was taken in trying to explain to Snotlout how to help but she managed to remove herself from the house eventually but was surprised to find only Hookfang sat outside the door.

"Stormfly?" she called but the dragon was not nearby.

As Astrid walked down the hill toward the square she heard two distinct voices saying exactly the same thing which was strange in itself except that they were saying 'Rraak' repetitively.

"Oh now I've seen everything" she declared as she stood with hands on hips.

Standing near the edge of the village square, Little Freya bobbed up and down with her hands in her armpits while flapping her elbows. Standing opposite her was a certain blue dragon, wings out and moving its head up and down in perfect unison with the tiny Viking. As she watched, the pair began to move their heads from left to right in what could only be described as the first time that someone had ever danced with a dragon. Some of the villagers stared amazed as a few even began to clap their hands in time with the dance as Ruffnut came and joined in Astrids astonishment.

"Who'd have thought it Ruff, my dragon has rhythm." And she went and joined in the fun.

* * *

Olvor put down her plate after finishing the breakfast that Astrid has prepared for her and Gothi that had consisted of grilled bread with Yak butter, fried ham and eggs with scrambled eggs and a boiled egg each. She glanced at the peaceful look on Hiccups face, pondered the memory of the breakfast for a moment and spoke.

"You know Gothi if those two should ever get married, my wedding gift will consist of two chickens and a pig."

Gothi was often known to smile but this was one time she could do nothing more than laugh.

"Well I suppose I should leave Hiccup in your capable hands and go see Snotlout about getting back to Dragon Island. Is there anything else I should do for you before I go?"

The Elder shook her head as Olvor looked at Hiccup one more time and opened the door. The new day was bringing a new Berk as the people of the village slowly became accustomed to their new lives as dragon owners and riders rather than dragon fighters just as those far away on Dragon Island had the day before. The sight that greeted Olvor at the town square was both unexpected and delightful as some of the people pampered a Zippleback on one side and some watched as two girls danced with a Nadder on the other.

"You will never cease to amaze me Astrid."

"Don't blame me Olvor" she stopped bobbing up and down and approached the doctor "it was Little Freya that started all this."

"It's wonderful to think about what kind of place Berk is going to be for children from now on. When Freya grows up and has children of her own, they will have no memories of dragon raids and the village being destroyed."

"Just think of what we can build here now" the realisation suddenly hit Astrid like wet haddock and then she was suddenly hit by a wet haddock. The twins were arguing once more and had started throwing fish at each other.

"Excuse me Olvor but I have to crack some Thorston skulls together."

As Astrid left to attempt some rather violent peace negotiations, Olvor went in search of Snotlout at the arena but noticed his dragon curled up in the morning sun outside the Jorgenson home. Although the cleanup had progressed, Olvor was still presented with a scene of domestic horror as an overwhelmed Snotlout tried to determine what could be saved and what was a total lost cause.

"What on earth..?"

"DON'T BLAME ME; IT WAS THE STUPID DRAGON" screamed the frustrated boy.

"Alright Snotlout calm down and I'll help you get all of this lot sorted out."

It did not take Olvor long to realise that the only way she was going to get his help now, was to give her help first and so she continued what Astrid had started in trying to show Snotlout how to separate his big mess into smaller messes and tackle them one at a time but she still had hope they would be on their way back to Dragon Island within the hour. After about twenty minutes they received a visit from Astrid with some surprising news.

"Hey you two" she called "you may want to come and see this."

As they left the dark house and went out into the brightening day Olvor shielded her face from the glare as Astrid pointed out over the ocean. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the outdoor light and began to make out many small silhouettes far off in the distance. It was not long before she could make out the largest of the shapes but had difficulty believing what her eyes were telling her. Olvor could see four large dragons carrying one of the Vikings fishing nets and suspended within was Hiccups Night Fury, Toothless. A large group of dragons flew with them but it was difficult to make out how many there were. At first she thought twenty or thirty but soon she saw it was over fifty and most of them carried a Viking passenger and several bore two. The main group flew Toothless to a spot near Gobber's forge and placed him gently on the ground. Astrid ran down to greet them with Stormfly following close behind and Little Freya at their heels. Olvor felt trouble coming when Spitelout Jorgenson approached on the back of a large Gronckle and landed about ten feet from his front door.

"Snotlout" she called in hushed tones through the doorway.

"Your Dad is here so stay inside, listen closely and follow my lead."

"O…okay" the mildly panicked voice called back.

"Oh my but it's good to be home" Spitelout smiled at Olvor.

"Please hold tight to that thought because I have something to tell you."

"What is it? Is it Snotlout…?"

"Your lad is fine but he had a little dragon trouble last night. We're all still getting used to living with huge unwieldy beasts but you will be pleased to know that Snotlout has taken on all the responsibility himself to get the help he needed to make things right again himself and has shown that he is a very responsible boy."

Listening from behind the door, Snotlout took his cue.

"What's been happening Olvor?" his father asked.

Snotlout came out of the doorway with his part of the con-my-dad plan ready to go.

"Thanks for all you help Olvor and I'm sure Mom and Dad will want to thank you too when they... Dad, your back!"

"Son, will somebody please tell me what has happened?"

"Certainly Dad" he crossed his fingers "I flew Hookfang here from the arena this morning to pick up some stuff before coming back to Dragon Island to offer Chief Stoick my help when he caught the aroma of Moms cured ham and burst in to get it. It was entirely my fault for not foreseeing what would happen. The dragon obviously needs more training but I asked Olvor and Astrid to help me to clean up so I hope to have it all fixed soon."

He had laid on the charm so thick that anyone else would have known he was lying instantly but fortunately for Snotlout, his father thought his son was virtually perfect so he fell for every word.

"Good work son and don't blame yourself. None of us are quite sure exactly what a dragon will do all the time and I'm glad to see you're on top of the situation. Stoick has asked me to help make the village 'dragon ready' so let me know when you're done and I'll come and inspect."

As Spitelout flew off toward the forge, the relief on his sons face was very plain to see but had failed to notice one minor detail.

"Umm... what do you think may happen if he talks to Astrid down there?" Olvor asked.

"OH NO!"

Fortunately for Snotlout it is possible to outrun a Gronckle over a short distance if the runner is desperate and the dragon is not and so he managed to reach Astrid as she fussed over Toothless a few seconds before his father arrived.

"Please don't tell my Dad about Hookfang being in the house last night."

Astrid smiled an evil smile and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Certainly Snotlout no problem. You can count on me."

"Thanks Astrid, I owe you one" and he ran off back his home to finish the clean up.

"Yes" Astrid told herself "you owe me big time and I am going to enjoy this."

* * *

Olvor wandered down to the forge area to have a word or two with the new arrivals. Although dragons and Vikings were landing all over the village, she noticed the four dragons that had brought Toothless back, were ridden by people who could answer all of her questions. At the front, Sigrid and Freya had piloted their Nightmares while Odd and Gobber carried the back of the net while riding on a Nadder and a Gronckle respectively.

"Good morning" she called out "and what brings you all to Berk on this fine day?"

"Well in my case, a Gronckle brings me" Gobber joked "but I'll bet you did not expect to see all of us so early in the day."

"I didn't expect to see any of you at all till I got back to Dragon Island."

"Quite a lot happened after you left so we changed all our plans over a pleasant dinner of fish, fish and more fish but I'll let the others fill in all the details because I have some very important tasks to see too. Come along Pigg"

And so without another word, Gobber picked up a large bundle that had been in the net with Toothless and trotted off to his workshop with his Gronckle doing likewise.

"He named a dragon Pig?" Olvor was aghast.

"With two G's" Odd informed her as he patted the Nadder at the base of it's neck "and this handsome creature is Windrunner."

"Windrunner" Olvor considered "much better."

"And over here" he gestured to the two Monstrous Nightmares "we have Cuddles and Buttercup."

"You have got to be kidding me."

While Big Freya introduced her daughter to Cuddles, Sigrid joined Odd and Olvor to let the doctor know of the latest in current events. They sat on a bench near to the back of the forge from where a pleasing warmth emitted thanks to Pigg.

"With about thirty craftsmen working on her, the Sharktooth was ready to leave late in the afternoon and she even set sail with Gronckle assistance. We spotted them a few hours ago making good time so we should be welcoming Olaf and the crew back later tonight."

"And the more dragons we befriended" Odd continued "the easier it became as those with dragons helped the others just like Fishlegs did and before we knew it we had enough air transport to head back to Berk straight away. Stoick will be bringing back the last group later today once everyone has mastered the finer points of dragon control."

Olvor began to look a little concerned at the news. She had hoped to get the chance to talk to Stoick alone back on Dragon Island but if he were to return to a hero's welcome before she could explain her actions in the Great Hall, then her fate would be sealed as he would have no chance to pardon her before the tribe found out that she had lied about speaking in the Chiefs name.

"What's wrong Olvor" Odd noticed the fear in her eyes.

"Not out here" she said secretively "come back to my house where we can talk in private."

* * *

**An early spring has just hit here in Australia and so some warm weather at last (yay). I have just taught myself to play 'The Dancing and the Dreaming' from HTTYD 2 on the ukulele and it is hard to sing without slipping into a bad Scottish accent and ending with Gobbers long note. I'm done.**


	13. Chapter 13

13 The Chief Returns

The last eighteen Vikings on Dragon Island sat around the glowing stone cooking fire, each with a dragon at his or her side, enjoying a last meal before setting off for Berk. Stoick stood and picked up two fish from a nearby basket, returned to his seat and held up a fish in each hand.

"Come and get it lads."

The twin heads of a Zippleback took a fish each and nuzzled the sides of Stoicks face with a satisfied purr as the great Chief roared with laughter.

"I am definitely going to enjoy living with dragons when we get home."

"Ya know we're going to have a lot of work to do when we get back Stoick" Thorfinn pointed out "for with all these dragons living with us, the whole village will need to change."

"Indeed Thorfinn and we will need to work out what needs to be done straight away as the dragons are already there."

"Aye Chief" piped up Phlegma the Fierce "its okay for our homes to be wooden but the beasties will need stone stables that they can nay burn down."

"Much like the volcano there" Ivar concluded.

"Well actually it's not a volcano" Thorfinn pointed out "it's just a mountain."

Everyone was surprised and most were disbelieving of his statement so Thorfinn explained.

"When we first came here, the whole place was completely surrounded by a thick sea fog right? Well when Hiccup destroys the Red Death, that fog begins to slowly thin and the next morning after the storm it's gone even though we have always seen it here in the past. Every time we would go searching for the dragons nest come rain or shine we would always come up against that sea mist but look at the mountain now."

They all turned as one to look up at the mountain as Thorfinn continued.

"When we first landed here I could see red glowing molten rock pouring from vents in the mountainside but now they have gone dark and cold and so has the glow that came from deep within the hole that our catapults made. I believe that the Red Death would use its mighty breath to keep its mountain home hot deep inside so that sea water surrounding the island would not be as cold as the waters of Berk or even the waters around Astrids Island to the east and that was what caused the sea fog but now that the mountain has cooled, it's gone."

"You've really put a lot of thought into this haven't you?" Ivar noted."

"And it is all very interesting but I think it is time we got back to practicing our dragon flight control skills so we can set off for Berk in an hour or two" Stoick so ordered.

As the group of contented and fish filled Vikings and dragons arose from lunch, a Deadly Nadder approached followed a short time later by the islands biggest Nightmare.

"Hullo you two" Stoick greeted Sigrid and Odd with a broad smile.

"I didn't expect to see you two back here today. Is anything wrong?"

"Maybe Chief" Odd spoke quietly so no others would hear "we need to have a little chat before you return to Berk."

Stoick could see the concern on their faces so he called to Thorfinn.

"Take the group for a trip round the mountain and over to Astrids Island while I have a talk with these two."

"Right Chief" and he set off to fulfil his orders.

The trio walked south from the camp with their dragons following several feet behind. Stoicks voice wavered as he spoke.

"It's Hiccup isn't it?" he assumed "he didn't make it through."

"Hiccup is still alive and resting in Gothi's care" Sigrid assured him "but they did have some trouble when they got back to Berk."

"What kind of trouble?" he asked concerned.

"Well... the others in the village weren't expecting a group of Dragon Riders to arrive last night so they attacked the dragons; Hiccup and Astrid were almost killed."

"Aarrgh... I should have seen that coming" Stoick fumed.

"Olvor did" Odd calmed him "but it still didn't go according to plan and... well... Astrid went a little bit berserk in defending Hiccup and Stormfly and she almost caused a riot."

Stoick smiled a little and shook his head "She a tough one alright. So what's the problem, did she hurt someone?"

"Err... no but everyone was so angry that Olvor had to take desperate measures to keep things from going totally out of control again."

"How; what did she do?"

"She took your place in the Great Hall" Sigrid admitted "and claimed to speak with your authority."

"Oh" Stoick was worried "who else knows about this?"

"As far as Sigrid and I are concerned" Odd stated "only you and Olvor were aware of your arrangement with her as we were not present during your conversations and if you tell us that you gave her your authority to act in this way, well that's good enough for me."

"And me too" Sigrid added.

"But if you tell us otherwise, then we follow our Chief not some pretender if you catch my meaning."

Stoick gave a wry smile and nodded as he considered their words but before he could respond, their attention was re-directed to a strange short roaring breath coming from behind them. Windrunner and Stoicks Zippleback were standing close to Buttercup when the huge red Nightmare suddenly collapsed near the base of the mountain behind the trio of Vikings.

"BUTTERCUP!" Sigrid shouted as they all ran to the dragon's side.

She fell to her knees and picked up its big head in her arms as Odd moved in to listen to its chest.

"What's wrong my little baby?" she cooed to the dragon as it gasped for every breath.

Odd stood up and went to her.

"I so sorry lass but his heart sounds very strange. A Nightmare of his size... well... he must be very old."

The tears began to flow from the mighty warriors eyes as she held the dragon that she had know for less than a day but had already come to mean so much to her.

"We were going to do so much together; ride the wind, explore the world."

His breathing became short and irregular and Stoick saw a strange look of vacancy on the normally expressive face as with a gasp he breathed his last and closed his eyes for the final time. Sigrid howled as her heart broke. His end had come so quick, so sudden. Odd and Stoick knelt to comfort her and to their surprise, the dragons came to do likewise with one of the Zippleback's heads even resting lightly on her shoulder.

* * *

Two hours later the dragons body lay covered in a pile of rocks; Sigrid removed her helmet and placed it on a large rock half way up the pile as Ivar blew a long note on his ram's horn. Over twenty dragons spread their wings wide, lifted their heads and roared to the sky as nineteen Vikings each raised a fist and joined in.

"Thank you my friends" Sigrid bowed her head "shall we go home Chief?"

"Indeed" agreed Stoick "It's about time I took back my authority on Berk."

The other Vikings looked at each other with surprise; 'Who acted with his authority?' they wondered. Stoick offered Sigrid a place on his Zippleback as the last of the warriors of Berk mounted their dragons and departed for home.

* * *

Stormfly and Cuddles strode up from the dock pulling the huge metal bowl that had at once been one of the massive torches that would light the night sky during each dragon attack. It was placed near Gobbers forge at the bottom of the steps that lead from Stoick's home and was held straight with four wooden blocks placed under the edges. As soon as the Vikings had it fixed and steady, the call went out for three Gronckles to bring in the net they carried and to fill the bowl with another catch of fresh fish.

"There we go" Mulch stated satisfied "hopefully the dragons like fish much more than they like sheep."

"From what I saw, they didn't ever eat the sheep they stole" Astrid pointed out "It seems that everything went into the giant dragon but they will never have to feed that thing again."

"Aye Lass and not to offend or cast any disparages upon you but I still find it hard to believe that there could ever be anything that big out there."

"Oh no offence will be taken. I still find it hard to believe and the rotten thing nearly swallowed me. I just hope there are no more of them anywhere. Come on Toothless, let's go and see how Hiccup is doing."

"Hold on Astrid" Gobber called out "if you're going up there you can give me a hand."

She went over to the forge and was given a block of wood but as she contemplated it, more soon came.

"Let's see now" Gobber considered his workbench full of parts "I'll need this and this too… erm… I better take those and Ooo… that as well…"

"HEY" Astrid called from behind the pile in her arms "do you expect me to carry everything or do you intend to help too?"

"Oh… sorry Lass" and he removed half the pile "I guess this'll do for now."

"What on earth is all this stuff for anyway?" she asked as they climbed the steps.

"Well you see my dear, our little invalid up there will never be satisfied with a fine example of replacement body parts like mine. I've been studying the mechanism that he's constructed to allow his Night Fury to fly with his help and a leg made from a simple piece of wood just won't cut the sturgeon."

"So he'll still be able to fly on Toothless?"

"That's the plan" he knocked on the door and pushed it open "good afternoon Gothi and how is your little patient doing?"

Gothi shrugged as Gobber pulled back the bed clothes to measure Hiccups leg.

"OWW!" he started as her staff cracked him on the skull "Alright I'll be careful."

Astrid tended to the fireplace as Toothless lay curled up at the foot of the bed, dozing but not fully asleep. When Gobber had finished his measuring and playing with the pieces of bent metal and carved wood, he recovered Hiccup and picked up the rest of his bundle."

"Come along now lizard, I need you outside for a minute or two. Can you give me a hand Astrid?"

She roused the dragon with a rub on the top of his head and led him to the door. Once they were all out in the sun Gobber straightened Toothless's tail, laid some of his project alongside and took more measurements.

"Hmm... yes... that will do nicely. Righty ho then, I've got some casting to do" and he picked up most of his things and took off back down the hill.

"Bring the rest when you come down Lass" he called back as he rushed off.

After she had taken Toothless back inside and checked on Hiccup once more, Astrid gathered up the rest of Gobbers parts and bid farewell to Gothi as she closed the door behind her. Walking carefully down the steps with an armful of metal rods and bars, she met up with Little Freya passing by while doing another loop of the village on Stormfly's back. The dragon nuzzled her cheek and almost caused her to drop her load of scrap.

"Yes it's good to see you too Stormfly" she looked up to Freya "you can't keep her you know, I'm gonna want her back soon."

"Yeah" Freya was resigned but disappointed "but Mom says she won't let me ride on Cuddles till she can be sure he won't catch fire while I'm on him. I wish I had my own dragon" she pouted.

"Alright then you can take one more trip around town and then I need to take her for a flight around the island."

"Can I come too?" Freya bounced excitedly.

"NO; I have work to do."

"Meany" came the accusation as the dragon walked off once more.

"Where do you want all this stuff Gobber?" Astrid called out.

"Anywhere on the bench will do" came the answer as he poured molten metal into the two moulds he had made since returning that morning.

"Did I hear you say you're going for a little trip around the island later?"

"Yeah I wanted to see if any of the wild dragons have been settling on Berk now that they are free to leave Dragon Island and Odd asked me to check out some places to build the dragon pens that will be close by and easily reached but won't crowd the village."

"Well if he wants them close but not in anybody's way, then you only have to think about what it is that you want to house."

"I don't understand what you're getting at" Astrid admitted.

"Well think about this then; ships and sheep."

The puzzlement on Astrids face only deepened as she considered his words.

"Nope; you've lost me."

"Where do we keep our longships?" he prompted.

"Down at the dock."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? That's where the water is."

"And where are the sheep pens?"

"Over by the cliffs where they can get... to... the...fields." she began to understand.

"Thanks Gobber." And she ran out to find Stormfly.

"That's my girl. Almost as slow as Stoick but she gets there in the end."

"I HEARED THAT" she called back as she ran.

* * *

Getting Little Freya off Stormfly was not easy but Astrid was soon soaring around the island high above the tallest peak. Three massive Timberjacks glided overhead as she looked over the forest below and down to the small cove on the far side of the island. Soon she could see the scar in the landscape where Toothless had crashed to earth after being brought down by Hiccup using a similar weapon to the one that had almost felled Stormfly only yesterday. Flying around the far point of the island, she moved up the north coast and back toward the village to undertake Berks first aerial survey.

The Vikings who had arrived early in the day were already hard at work making the changes that the village would need to undergo for the inclusion of dragons in everyday life. The arena was the site with the most activity as weapons were removed to the Armoury, cells were turned into pens and the cage that covered the arena was lifted higher to allow the dragons free movement within.

As Astrid flew out over the ocean she looked back toward the docks at Raven Point and made her way around to the southern side of Berk where she noticed the perfect spot below the rock spire that towered over the town. Guiding Stormfly in close, Astrid had the dragon fire a blast into the rock to leave behind a black mark that would be very hard to miss.

"Good girl" she patted the dragon.

Although Astrid knew she should go straight back to Berk and find something else that needed to be done, it was too nice a day for flying and ever since Sigrid had mentioned the Sharktooth, the five Gronckle powered longship, she had wanted to see it for herself and now was the perfect time.

"And besides" she told Stormfly "with all the trouble we went through travelling between the islands, it's only right that we should check to see if they're alright. Right?"

"Rraark" came the reply.

"I'm glad you agree."

And so it was that just over half an hour later, Astrid and Stormfly landed on the stern of the Sharktooth with a loud thump.

"Good day to you M'dear" greeted Olaf "do you bring news from our Chief?"

"No, just taking a break from all the work being done at the village."

He laughed as he slapped her on the back so firmly that she almost toppled over.

"Well if anyone deserves a break, it's you for sure after that little trip you took the night of the storm."

"Oh you heard about that?" she said nervously.

"Oh yes, I was at the council meeting when you came out of the cave looking like you had just rolled down a mountain" he laughed again even harder.

Unlike Snotlout, Astrid preferred that everybody not discuss her exploits but the rising anger and frustration she felt would soon be quashed as the pair made their way to the mast where she lay eyes on one of the cutest sights she had ever seen; two huge Gronckles fast asleep and snoring loudly. The one on the left kicked his leg as he dreamt of whatever it is that Gronckles dream about and Astrid had to move passed with care as the muscular creature could easily break her leg if it caught her the wrong way. Three strong ropes stretched and creaked ahead of the bow, each with a Gronckle at the far end pulling the ship along as the sail assisted from behind.

"Hey Astrid" Fishlegs called from the centre dragon "I'll be finished my shift in another ten minutes."

"His shift? She asked Olaf.

"The Gronckles need to have at least one rider out front or they tend to get a little distracted and will move off in a different direction or just come back to the ship but with a leader like Fishlegs out there, they keep straight and true. We bring 'em in every hour to swap with the others so they don't get too tired."

"So what happens when his shift over?"

"Well Lass, I've had to put my fear aside and take my turn to ride and so have some of the others but these Gronckles are much easier to fly on than a Nightmare. They hover slowly and they're not to high off the water so the rest of us are getting use to it."

"The perfect dragon for beginners then?"

"It's not so much that but more because young Fishlegs is a much better teacher than Snotlout who just does as he pleases and expects you to follow along."

"You're not telling me anything new Sir" Astrid shook her head.

"Ha... indeed. I guess you have to deal with his strange ways a lot more with you two being betrothed and all."

"Excuse me" Astrid enquired "could you run that by me again please?"

"Oh he told us all about it while we were all huddled around his burning dragon during the storm."

"And what... exactly... did he tell you all about?"

"Well... how he was your one true love and how you had given him your heart after he had saved you from being eaten by the giant dragon."

"I'll let you in on a little secret."

"What's that Lass?"

"Not only is he a terrible teacher but THAT MISERABLE LITTLE TROLL IS TOTALY DELUDED!"

Olaf rubbed a finger in his right ear.

"Yes... well... I can't say that comes as any surprise. I hope you can understand that I didn't want to tell you that you could do better, if what he said was true but since it isn't..."

"Yes...?"

"You can do better Lass."

Astrid gave a coy smile "I think I already have."

"I hope I'm not the miserable little troll you were yelling about" Fishlegs declared as he dropped onto the deck "and if I am, then I apologise profoundly for whatever it is I may have done."

"It's okay Fishlegs it's..."

"Don't tell me, Snotlout."

"Who else?" Astrid resigned herself.

"Has he been calling you the future Mrs. Snotlout again?"

"AGAIN?"

"Come on Astrid, forget about him and tell me; has Hiccup come around yet?"

He looked so eager for good news about his friend that Astrid wished she had better news to give him.

"Gobbers making him a new leg and Gothi's taking good care of him but..."

"Well... maybe there will be some better news when we get back to Berk tonight. Olaf says we should arrive a couple of hours after sunset so make sure those harbour torches are burning brightly for us."

"You can count on it. So what would you all like at the feast tonight, fish?"

"NO!" shouted the entire crew who had been wanting a change of diet ever since the day they had sailed from Raven Point.

"Okay then" she climbed onto Stormflys back "Eel pie for all."

A loud chorus of boos and jeers arose all over the ship as Astrid took to the air but everyone happily waved as she circled the ship and headed back to Berk.

"Well that little visit has certainly lifted everyones spirits" Olaf noted.

"She does have a Viking sense of humour alright" Fishlegs agreed.

"And she hinted at a little romance. Would that be with the son of our noble Chief I wonder?"

"I not one to gossip Sir..."

"Yes you are, you liar."

"...but I did notice how comfortable they looked riding Stormfly together during our trip to Dragon Island a few days ago."

Olaf's countenance deepened as he noticed something in the sky behind them.

"Take a look up there Lad."

Fishlegs looked up with delight "More dragon riders headed home."

"A smaller group than this morning's but still very impressive. It's may be the last of 'em."

"Look!" Fishlegs pointed as a single dragon left the Weyr and dove down to the ship.

As it neared, they could see it was a large Zippleback being ridden by their Chief and one of his warriors. The dragon spread its wings wide to slow its pace as one figure dropped from its back and landed with a loud thump on the stern.

"Permission to come aboard Skipper?" Sigrid declared.

"Granted" Olaf responded as he delightedly shook her hand.

"You're our second visitor in only a few minutes. Look; that little dot up there is Astrid and Stormfly and you just missed them but... where's Buttercup?"

Fishlegs drew nearer as he had been wondering that as well. Sigrid kept her composure as she looked at her feet and shook her head.

"He err... is no longer with us. Odd did tell me; A big dragon is an old dragon and his heart just gave out I'm sorry to say."

"Oh my dear, I am so sorry to hear that and he was such a mighty dragon too."

"Thank you my friend."

"We will raise a stein to him together when we next feast in the Great Hall."

"Indeed" Sigrid brightened up a little "but now some better news. The group that just flew over consisted of the last of the Vikings to leave Dragon Island for Berk so when we make landfall tonight, it will mean that everyone is home safe and sound."

"And we have you and the other Dragon Riders to thank young Fishlegs" Olaf slapped him on the back "now I had better get those two lazy Gronckles up or we won't get back till midnight."

"It's okay sir" Fishlegs interrupted "my dragon is ready to go again so I'll take another shift while you two catch up some more."

"Thank you Lad." Olaf scratched the dragon on the back of its head "You're a good little meat lump workin' so hard for us."

With replacement dragons on each wing, Fishlegs took to the air once more.

* * *

**This was a difficult chapter to proof read as I still can't get through it without crying. Yeah I know - I'm a wuss.**


	14. Chapter 14

14 And There Was Much Rejoicing

When given free reign, Stormfly would take the opportunity to seek out rising thermals and glide on the wind and since Astrid felt in no hurry to get back to Berk, she let go of the rope completely and let the dragon fly free while she lay back to contemplate her new life and two possible futures both with and without Hiccup.

She hated to think about the second possibility and that was why she had been trying to keep so busy. In the morning, when Olvor had requested breakfast, Tuffnut had been tickled and Stormfly had learnt to dance, all of those mind numbing and exhausting thoughts had disappeared but only for a short time but now her mental holiday was over and all of these thoughts had returned with a vengeance and demanded to be contemplated.

Fortunately for Astrid, a distant sound broke into her mind, before fear and regret could take hold. The sound caught her attention because it was exactly like Stormfly which was odd because she was riding on Stormfly so it could only be…

Sitting up with a start, Astrid grabbed the rope around the base of Stormfly's neck and guided the dragon around in a gentle port turn and sure enough a Weyr of about forty dragons, many of them being Nadders and most of them with riders, filled the sky behind her.

"Good afternoon Chief" Astrid called as she drew alongside Stoicks Zippleback "and what brings you to this neck of the clouds."

"A dragon; what else?" this line was rapidly becoming the new Viking pun of choice.

"Is there any news of my son?"

"He hasn't woken up yet but Gothi has redressed his leg and put something on it to dull the pain. Olvor says his heart is still strong, the house is warm and Gobber is working on a new leg for him and a tail for Toothless so mainly good news."

"Unlike your arrival I hear."

"Oh… you've heard about that."

"Odd and Sigrid told me all about it."

"I'm sorry Sir, I can't even explain why…"

"Don't worry Astrid, Olvor and I have an arrangement that will get you off the hook."

"Y…you do? err… thank you Sir."

She did not yet understand what he meant nor did she know that Stoick had lied about his 'arrangement' but she knew that if the Chief was on her side, then her prospects were good so Astrid followed Stoick lead and let the matter drop. Looking around the sky, Astrid noticed someone who was conspicuous by her absence and so she had to ask.

"Where's Sigrid and Buttercup, still back on the island?

"Ah… I'm afraid my news is not as good as yours."

* * *

"Knock knock Gothi" Gobber called through the door.

"May I please have another look at your patient m'dear?"

Gothi eyed him suspiciously as he entered with a parcel under his arm which he placed on a nearby table and removed the cloth wrapping. What lay within was beyond description but Gothi decided there and then to hit Gobber with it if he didn't give an explanation, a darn good try.

"What we have here, oh wisest of the wise, is a very special leg for a very special boy with a very special dragon with a very special need."

'Okay' she thought 'he's having a red hot go at an explanation after all.'

"You see unlike myself, Hiccup is young and still has most of his leg so I have put in this firm spring mechanism that will cushion each step and even enable him to run, once he gets used to it of course." Gothi nodded with approval so he continued.

"And this little flat bit where the foot should be can slip… into…"

Gobber struggled with the pedal that would control Toothless's tail and almost dropped the lot until the pieces finally clicked into place.

"There. I know it looks a bit clumsy but the parts are made to be attached to a leg and a dragon so trying to fiddle with them using a hand and a hook is not easy. So what do you say Gothi, can I see if it fits please?"

He pleaded with a slight bounce like a small child begging for a second helping of ice cream as Gothi pondered the pieces. After a closer inspection of the part that would attach to Hiccup's leg, she gave her approval and Gobber went to work fitting the revolutionary new prosthetic. At first glance, Gothi thought it looked a little too long and pointed it out to Gobber by hitting him on the back of the head.

"OWW! What the… oh don't worry about that" he explained while he rubbed his head.

"When Hiccup stands on it the spring will compress and 'Hey Presto' two legs and both the same length."

A little more pondering and Gothi smiled and nodded her approval.

* * *

As the afternoon wore on, Berk continued to change more and more as minor alterations were completed and major ones were begun and it was all for the express purpose of making life with dragons possible. At Gobbers request, the first temporary feeding station was put in place near his forge because he had big plans for saddles, harnesses, lifting rigs, net throwers and all kinds of things that he referred to as 'Hiccup Inspired Brainstorms' so he wanted to be able to keep a dragon in one spot while he worked on it and food was usually the best method to do that.

Olvor had just finished helping to install a second feeder under the rock overhang behind the old arena, now partially converted into a dragon stable, when she felt a sudden urge to check on Hiccup and so she bid her fellow workers adieu and started the climb up to the Chiefs home. Gobber had commandeered Toothless once more and was trying to get the annoyed Night Fury to stay still while he attempted to fit the new and hopefully improved flying rig and as they wrestled, Olvor began to understand why Gobber had made such a fuss about getting the first feeding station. It was such a shame that they weren't at the forge but outside Stoicks home instead.

"Come on Toothless" she bent down a put her hand on the wriggling dragons head "let Gobber do his job and you'll be ready to fly with Hiccup when wakes up."

After Hiccup, Toothless considered Astrid to be his closest friend and she was often in the company of Olvor so he had come to accept the doctor by association and although the dragon did not understand her words, her tone was very comforting. Taking advantage of the brief calm that came over the dragon, Gobber finished attaching the tail and began to thread and adjust the control lines.

"What I really need is someone who has had experience with riding a Night Fury."

With a loud thump, Stormfly landed fifteen feet away. Astrid dismounted and ran to them.

"Ah good" Gobber smiled "here's one now. Could I get you onto the dragon's saddle please Astrid?"

"Yes Gobber in a minute I have to talk to Olvor."

The urgency in her voice made both Gobber and Olvor concerned.

"What's wrong Astrid?" Olvor enquired.

"I have a message from Chief Stoick. He says you should get some of the villagers who were here when we arrived yesterday and go to the Great Hall and he will join you there soon and he said you should hurry."

Olvor had been expecting something like this and she hoped it would be relatively painless.

"Right then; you head down to the arena and send over anyone who was here when we arrived and I'll round up some between here and the hall." Olvor told the girl.

"Hang on" Gobber was annoyed "I need her here. She's the only person awake who has ever ridden a Night Fury before."

"And as soon as you're done, get back here and help Gobber before he starts to cry."

"No need to be like that, there's nothing wrong with being a sensitive Viking." he pouted.

Soon Astrid was entering the arena where a small group of Vikings were making renovation plans. Among them were a few of the men that Olvor needed including Mulch and so Astrid knew she now had a chance to make things right after the disrespect she had shown him the last evening.

"Excuse me Mr. Mulch sir."

He was quite small for a Viking and he had a very cheerful face that was mainly covered by his large, well kept beard as was his stomach.

"Ah hullo Astrid and how's young Hiccup doing?"

"Err… I'm not sure sir. He was okay when I last saw him but I bring a message from Olvor. Chief Stoick is returning and she would like you to meet her in the Great Hall right away."

"Ah yes, the ceremony will need to be performed as soon as Stoick arrives. Come on lads, it's time to put things back in order."

Astrid wondered what the ceremony might be but she knew it was for the elders and warriors only. They weren't on Dragon Island any more so she knew it would not be a good idea for her to gate crash again so helping Gobber was her only option.

* * *

Olvor could see the dragons approaching in the distance as she stood at the door of the Great Hall. Stoick would come, she would confess and he would banish her if she was lucky. Claiming to speak with the Chiefs authority was very serious business but she had taken care of his son so she was sure he would show some mercy.

"What's she doing standing at the door?" Stoick declared as he looked down.

"Odd, get down there and tell her to get inside."

"Right Chief" Odd replied and put his Deadly Nadder into a dive.

Fortunately for them both, not many dragons could beat a Nadder for speed in a dive and Zipplebacks, though fast could glide very slowly without losing too much altitude thanks to their massive wing area so Stoick was able to hold back while Odd rushed forward and landed his dragon near the left side of the hall.

"Get inside" he whispered as loudly as he could.

Olvor looked at Odd in a very confused way as he rushed up to her with a Nadder trotting along behind.

"Get inside" he repeated "and stand in Stoicks place."

"But I can't" she protested.

"You have to or you life here is over now trust me and GO!"

Olvor followed his instructions and entered the building. She was finding it hard to believe what Stoick was going to do for her. If the people found out that he was about to lie to them all just to protect her, he would lose his position as Chief and he would have to leave Berk with Hiccup and never return. Olvor did not want to go through with this deception for the risk was too great but if she didn't, then all would be revealed anyway so she had no choice but to do her best. She took her place near the end of the hall with a small crowd behind her.

BANG… BANG… BANG.

With three loud knocks on the doors of the Great Hall, the ceremony began.

"WHO DEMANDS ENTRY TO THE COUNCIL OF THE GREAT HALL OF BERK?" she called out as loud as she could.

Stoick threw open both doors and strode alone to the center of the room saying nothing.

"I AM OLVOR AND I SPEAK AS CHIEF OF BERK. WHO COMES BEFORE ME? STATE YOUR NAME AND BE HEARD."

"I AM STOICK THE VAST AND I CLAIM THE CHIEFDOM OF BERK. DO YOU YIELD YOUR POSITION TO ME?"

Quietly, Olvor stepped down from the leaders place, walked forward and held out her right arm. Without looking down, Stoick held out his arm and grasped her wrist as she did likewise.

"I yield to Stoick the Vast; Chief of Berk."

The Elders and Warriors who all stood behind Olvor, moved down the hall to stand behind Stoick and so signified their agreement with the restoration of the Chief who walked up to the place where Olvor had stood when the ceremony had begun.

"I AM STOICK AND I AM CHIEF ONCE AGAIN."

The whole room gave a single hand clap and the short ceremony was over. Mulch remained behind to talk with Stoick and Olvor while the others went about their tasks.

"So then my friends, have my orders been carried out?"

"Aye Stoick" Mulch informed him "we've installed two fish pots…"

"Feeding stations" Olvor interjected.

"Ah whatever, anyway there are two so far and the arena is being upgraded with temporary pens and some more are being planned for the cliff overhang. Oh, and some of the lads are checking out which buildings will need to have stronger roof beams installed before they collapse under the weight of a few dragons."

Stoick was glad to know what the people thought his orders were so he could go on pretending that he had given them.

"And what of Hiccup, is there any news?"

"He still sleeps but…" she lowered her voice even though everyone else had gone "he's dreaming."

"What?" the men spoke together.

"I could see movement under his eyelids and his breathing changed briefly. I'm not totally sure but I think it's a good sign. He could wake up any time, I hope."

"So he's not out of the woods yet?"

"No but I feel much more confident than I did back on Dragon Island."

Stoick looked down and shook his head.

"Thank you for talking sense into me back there. Who knows what another night in a damp and draughty cave would have done to him."

"She spoke a lot of sense back here too Stoick" Mulch added "it was almost as if she really did speak with your authority."

Olvors blood suddenly turned cold as she felt all the lies crumble around her.

"But… err… you knew…about…?"

Stoick smiled broadly as Mulch explained

"Of course we knew Lass. If Stoick had really sent you to speak in his name, he would have given you somthin' in writing or his sword or some kind of sign."

"Then why did you…?"

"Well we listened to what you said because it all made perfect sense. You were obviously trying to help make the peace and on top of that you gave us all a way out from the whole 'attacking-the-Chiefs-wounded-son' thing" he turned to Stoick.

"We really are very sorry about that Chief. None of us had any idea that he and the others would be flying in on dragons last evening. We really thought it was another raid."

"And even though most of the village was away on Dragon Island and you were only few in number, you still decided to take them on and defend the village" Stoick roared with laughter.

"That's not brave my old friend; that's crazy."

"Oh crazy says crazy Stoick the crazy Chief of Berk and general king of crazy; thank you very much."

"WAIT!" Olvor was both confused and frustrated "If you knew I was lying, then why… I mean how…"

"Look dear it's very simple. If the Chief can't take charge for some reason he can temporarily give his authority to someone else so we don't end up with many people giving conflicting orders. Are you with me so far?"

I know that, but he didn't…"

"Hold you horses, or should I say dragons now? A few of the Chiefs most trusted warriors know that they can claim this authority during times of great need but only if Stoick is not here to take charge himself but we have to be sure that they act in the manner of the Chief or they risk being charged with treason."

"So you just listened and…"

"Exactly my dear. You were the last to be with Stoick so we knew you would have the best idea of what was really going on with all these dragons and such. What's more, if you had tried to usurp the Chief and take over, I would have stuck a knife in your side but it was obvious that was not your intent."

Olvor began to feel calmer knowing that she would not have to live in constant fear of her secret being discovered.

"And I knew that you were unaware of all this" Stoick added "so I had to make sure that you didn't do something silly like confess or banish yourself before I could return and put things back as they were. Oh and well done by the way and welcome to the exclusive club of temporary Chiefs."

"I think I'll stick to cutting off limbs" she sighed "it's less stressful. Who else know about all this anyway?"

"Well there would be Sigrid and Spitelout" Mulch tried hard to remember "Agnar, Gothi and Olaf as well as anyone over sixty."

"So about dozen people all up including us" she concluded.

"Oh and we have to tell Odd now" Stoick added "because he was with Sigrid when Olvor let the Terrible Terror out of the bag but now I must go and see my son."

The three conspirators left the building only to hear the screaming whine of a Night Fury in a high speed dive as Toothless and Astrid flashed by so fast, that Stoick had to grab his helmet to stop it from being blown off.

"wwwaaaaaAAAAAAHOOOOOOOooooooooooo" is all she could say as she flew by.

"Well then… I think that new tail works wonderfully" Gobber declared proudly.

* * *

The sun set on Berk as the mouth watering aroma of spit roasted yak and various members of the poultry family filled the Great Hall. The people of the village gathered to feast together for the first time since the fleet had sailed for Dragon Island a week ago. The only people not currently present were Gothi and Astrid, who were sitting with Hiccup and the crew of the Sharktooth which was due to make landfall in just over an hour or so. Stoick gave a little speech to thank everyone for their efforts over the last few days and invited all and any ideas about dragonising the village to be expressed to Gobber, Sigrid, Odd and Thorfinn over the next few days. Later in the evening when the crew of the Sharktooth wandered into the hall, a fresh round of food and drinks were consumed and more toasts were made and so it was almost midnight before Stoick was able to make his way home.

It was very fortunate that the Chiefs house was rather spacious inside for although he was quite used to receiving large numbers of people, this was the first time that some of his guests had been so large. He opened his front door to find Toothless and Stormfly stretched out and sleeping by the fire pit where Gothi sat in Stoicks special relaxing chair roasting her feet with the Terrible Terror curled up on her lap. Hiccup still lay in his bed that had been brought downstairs upon his arrival from Dragon Island and Astrid was fast asleep on a nearby bench and she was the only one of the small group, dragons included, who was snoring. It had been Stoicks plan to relieve the Hiccup sitters for the night and spend some time alone looking after his son as a father should but he did not have the heart to disturb them and besides, they had all invested so much time and effort in helping Stoick with the boy that it did not seem right just to tell them to leave. So after stoking the fire and adjusting Hiccups blanket, Stoick climbed the steps and sighed with relief to be in his own comfortable bed once more.

Now if only he could block out Astrids snoring.

* * *

**For all those who wanted to see Astrid get some revenge on Snotlout after ch:13, I am sorry to say it does not happen till ch:2 of How to deal with a seasick dragon but dont worry as part 1 is almost finished so I will start putting it up in early September 2014.**

**On a little side note - I think I have found the most fun filled group of people in all of Japan (possibly the world) on youtube called Goose house. The bass player reminds me of myself when I was that age (makes me feel old) except for the fact that I am not Japanese and I don't have glasses (he plays better too).**


	15. Chapter 15

15 What A Day

"RRAAHK"

It was not the way Stoick had intended to wake up but it did seem fitting to be kept awake the night before by the rider and then to be woken by the dragon the next day. Sitting up, he rubbed his stomach and sore head and briefly contemplated never feasting and drinking again but the feeling soon passed and he began contemplate breakfast instead. He walked slowly down the steps while listening to the cheerful morning song of Berks premier Nadder rider.

"Chief!" a shocked Astrid nearly jumped out of her skin when he appeared.

"Sorry to wake you but I forgot you were here... again... back... home."

"It's alright Astrid but maybe you should take the dragons outside while I make some breakfast."

"Oh... don't worry about that" she made for the door "I'll make some breakfast for Gothi and Olvor so I'll make some for you too. Come on Stormfly, let's go."

The eager young girl and dragon disappeared out the door and ran off to make another morning meal.

"I hope you like eggs" Stoick turned toward the voice to find Olvor and Gothi had removed Hiccups left leg to re-dress the wound.

"Of course I like eggs; why do you ask?"

"Well I dare say you're about to have your choice of eggs prepared three or four different ways. It's Astrid's breakfast specialty."

"Hmmm, lucky me. What's that you're putting on Hiccups leg?"

"The main ingredient is the sap from a succulent plant. It's great for burns so we hope it will dull the pain for Hiccup while he heals but we won't know for sure till he wakes up and tells us."

Olvor looked down at Hiccup "So wake up and tell us you lazy little boy."

"Uuuhhnnhh" was the only reply but it was enough to get Stoicks attention.

"Did you hear that? He's awake at last."

"As Gobber would say Chief 'don't get your knickers in a twist' it's just a little side effect of his dreaming that I told you about yesterday. That may have been illegible babble but he did say something this morning but it was just a single word."

"What was it?" Stoick asked eagerly.

"I'll give you a clue; I hope Hiccup likes eggs."

"Really?"

"Yup; why do you think she was so happy this morning?"

* * *

After breakfast, Stoick took a stroll around the village to make his first morning inspection as the Chief of the Dragon Riders. The first of his people that he met on his walk was Little Freya who greeted him from the back of a medium sized, greenish blue Nadder. A short distance down the arced avenue of homes, he came across Odd who was slightly out of breath.

"Mornin' Chief; you haven't seen Windrunner anywhere have you?"

"Halfway up the street and look for the smaller Freya. You'll find your dragon attached to her tiny seat."

He watched Odd run off up the hill and thought 'I must have a word to Big Freya about her dragon thieving daughter. Nadder owners will never be safe till she renounces this life of crime.'

All was peaceful on Berk thanks mainly the large number of Vikings who were sleeping off last night's feast and the loudest sound to be heard was that of the beating wings of four riderless Zipplebacks flying overhead. As Stoick approached the rock spire on the southeast side of the village, he was surprised to see the posteriors of three Vikings who were on their knees peering over the edge of the cliff and down the rock face.

"I can only assume that there is something very interesting down there."

Two of the three rose up from their undignified position as the Chief approached.

"Ah good mornin' Stoick" Gobber greeted as he and Sigrid got back to their feet while Thorfinn continued to peer over the side.

"What are you three up to here and should I be worried?"

"Err... planning and probably" came Gobbers reply as Stoick took a quick glance down but did not see anything out of the ordinary as Sigrid took up the explanation.

"Yesterday Odd asked Astrid to take a look at Berk from a dragons perspective and work out the best place to build the main stable. A spot that would be close by but not in the way and she says that there is a mark down there showing the perfect spot but we can't quite see it."

"Don't tell me, let me guess. You were all looking down the cliff when Odd decided to go check it out but when he turned around his dragon was gone" Stoick deduced

"Uncanny Chief, how do you do it?"

"It's not as hard as you think when Little Freya is around."

Fifteen minutes later Odd had retrieved his dragon and joined Gobber and Pigg halfway between the village and the waves. As soon as they had completed the inspection of the cliff face, they returned to the others near the forge.

"It looks difficult Chief but the end result should be worth the trouble" Odd informed them.

"So how would we go about this?" Stoick asked as Gobber grabbed a broken sword from his scrap metal pile.

Scraping the sword in the dirt, he drew a side view of the cliff with a platform jutting out just over halfway up.

"We build this platform part on the side of the cliff like the walkways that go down to the docks but stronger and then we work from on top of it to cut the rock from the cliff face giving us both an underground dragon pen and cut stone for building anything that needs to be fire proof. It's win win."

"It could take years to complete" Sigrid chimed in "but if the dragons like to keep their homes warm as they did on Dragon Island, then we would end up with a centrally heated village."

"Doesn't that mean we will have lava coming out of the cliff and a permanent sea fog?" Stoick was concerned.

"It was the Red Death that caused all that so we should be fine."

"And besides" Thorfinn added "now that we don't need to reconstruct the village after every raid, we can take on projects like this more often."

"Indeed" Stoick agreed "let's get the plans started on this" and he left them to their work.

* * *

The morning grew into a fine day as Stoick considered his change of fortune. Less than a month ago he had been worried that he would not be able to feed his people during the coming winter but now, although their livestock numbers were still low, the people of Berk possessed fast aerial access to all the surrounding islands over the horizon where they could trap anything from Boars to Bunnies and build up their stocks with ease.

Many people came to him with many good ideas like a permanent lookout on the now accessible highest peak on the island, a dragon powered sauna and even plans for dragon sports and games but most were still content to simply practice their flying and make additions to their homes so the new pets could reside with the family. Gronckles and Nadders were shown to be the best indoor dragons while Zipplebacks and Nightmares proved to be too restless and flighty but that did not stop some brave souls from planning en suite stone pens for their precious little darlings (little?).

"It's a very pleasing view isn't it?" Olvor commented to Stoick as he stood halfway up the steps to his home where he had a perfect view of the village's new life.

"Aye that it is and how my boy then?"

"No change yet; Gothi's gone home to get some rest in case she has to sit up with him again tonight and Astrid is trying to find Stormfly who disappeared half an hour ago and is it my imagination or is that young Freya down there on a very familiar looking Nadder?"

"I really do have to speak to her mother."

Stoick stood shaking his head as Snotlout flew by on his dragon.

"Come on you guys" he called back to Fishlegs and the twins as they prepared to take another joyride around the village when a familiar voice drifted into Stoicks ears.

"I knew it; I'm dead!"

* * *

**The story was originally going to end here with the line above or Hiccup waking up to say "Hi Bud" to Toothless but I felt like I had cheated myself out of putting some Hicstrid into the story and so the epilogue was born.**

**With the story almost done I leave you with this fractured quote from the late great Douglas Adams "Think carefuly dear reader for you hold your very life in your hands. Now choose - either die in the vacuum of space or... tell me how good you think my story is" with apologies to Arthur Dent.  
**


	16. Chapter 16

Epilogue

It had been a very busy and interesting afternoon for Hiccup to say the very least. As long as he had remained on the ground the people of Berk would not leave him alone for even one minute so it was fortunate for him that Toothless had wanted to spend so much time trying out his new red tail in the skies over the island. It had also given him a chance to spend a little time alone with Astrid, if you could call soaring through the clouds on separate dragons, alone but compared to being surrounded by well-wishers constantly slapping him on the back and referring to him as The Hero of Dragon Island, two dragons made for absolute solitude.

After racing around the village, the six riders that had defeated the Red Death made straight for the clouds while looping and turning in a way that solidified their new reputations as the first and best Dragon Riders of Berk. Although that had not been the plan when they gave the aerial display, their reputation had been created and it was now completely out of their hands. Hiccup even suspected that sometime in the future, a story would be told of how a tall and muscular Hiccup had wrestled the giant beast to the ground with only his bare hands while his faithful dragon Bigfang had clamped itself onto the monsters tail in some kind of death grip; so legends tended to grow.

He had not been given much chance to speak with Astrid since the kiss that had given him goose bumps but as romantic as the clouds were, he knew another rider could appear at any moment so he had kept the moment light with a little small talk about how lovely the sky was and what a good job Gobber had done on his leg. For her part, Astrid had just smiled and agreed while thoroughly enjoying the effect she was having on him.

"It's good to be flying together on our own dragons" he remarked casually.

"Oh" she smiled "so you don't like having me on your dragon slowing you down and getting in the way."

"NO" he panicked "I didn't mean that at all. I loved flying with you and I only meant…"

Hiccups mood suddenly changed and Astrid wondered if she had taken her playful ways too far.

"Oh wow!" he remarked oddly.

"What's wrong babe?"

"I just had this horrible vision of my father. He was standing over me and he said… he…"

"What? What did he say?" Astrid asked as Hiccup looked straight into her face.

"He said… 'Don't blow it son, she's worth the effort' and while I agree with him whole heartedly, it just felt a little weird."

Hiccup did not know it but Astrid was feeling a little weird herself at that moment too. She remembered how Stoick had said those very words to Hiccup as he lay unconscious in the cave and if he could remember that, then he may remember…

"It's just your mind playing tricks on you" she sounded desperate to change the subject.

"Yeah I know but Dad has never spoken to me like that and it feels like a real memory and there are more of them too."

Astrid began to fear he would soon be telling her that soppy pet names were coming to mind or that he could remember every word she had said to him as he lay in the cave but instead Hiccup slapped himself across the face and apologized.

"I'm sorry Astrid. I didn't mean to kill the mood but I guess that giant dragon's tail hit me harder than I thought."

Relief flooded over her panicked face as she realized that she was off the hook for now.

"Hey, I know you're still recovering so we'll give it time."

"Thanks" he smiled "you're so cool."

"Do you know that it's been three days since you got hit by that tail?"

"It feels like an hour ago for me."

As the sun set below the bright orange sky, they returned to Berk to take their places of honor at the second feast. As the evening progressed, speeches were given, toasts were made and Vikings put on weight but Hiccup noticed one brave warrior did not appear to be enjoying the feast as much as all the others and had even left the Great Hall.

"Dad" he quietly asked his father "is there something wrong with Sigrid?"

He noticed the instant change in Stoick's face as he bent close to Hiccup and told him of Buttercup, what Sigrid and her dragon had done for Toothless and the tribe and finally of his untimely demise.

"I should go and talk to her" Hiccup said earnestly.

"Aye" Stoick replied "but give her a little time alone first."

Another main course (wild boar this time) and another round of drinks later and the festivities were still showing no sign of abating even though the night was half over. Hiccup was forced to sway back and forth thanks to the firm grip Stoick had on his shoulder as Gobber lead another one of his favorite Viking shanties. Hiccup really had no choice and there was also the fact that all Viking shanties were Gobbers favorite ones. Although the late hour and the constant swaying were making Hiccups vision a little blurry, he did manage to notice that Astrid had left the head table and he briefly caught her eye as she smiled at him and slipped out the main door. She knew that if they were to indulge in a little clandestine rendezvous, she would have to be patient as Hiccup would find it much harder to escape from the feast than she had with so many people wanting to welcome him back to the land of the living but she did want to see how hard he would try. One song later Hiccup excused himself to his father on the true premise of going to see Sigrid but Stoick had noticed Astrids departure as well and wished his son 'good luck' under his breath.

Outside the hall Hiccup approached Sigrid as she stood alone in the night.

"My father told me about your beautiful dragon…"

"He was a fine beast for sure" she agreed.

"…and what you both did for Toothless."

"You and he deserved our help."

"Thank you" he said plainly and honestly.

Her smile broadened as she grabbed him in a hug so tight, he began to wonder if he would ever be able to fully inhale again.

"You are so very very very welcome."

* * *

Astrid sat on a long bench down by one of the island signal fires and waited. From this day forward she would always know when Hiccup was on his way thanks to the spring in his metal leg and as she listened to the sound of his approach, it gave her a feeling of comfort. That sound meant that he was alive, the long wait was over and life could go on once more.

"It's quite the party" he commented as he sat.

"It was worth the wait" Astrid replied "I'm glad you're okay."

"Ah… yeah I could sorta tell when you err… um… does this mean that…"

"Yes… does this mean what?"

She was not going to give him any clues. Astrid had decided that it was his turn now and he knew it too.

"Does this mean… that you… and I"

"Go on"

"That you and I… are… well… no longer you and I... but are now… us?"

"Hmmm… do you want to be… ussss?"

A massive attack of honesty overwhelmed Hiccup.

"I have lost track of how long I have wanted you and I to become us."

He stood up and paced back and forth while shaking his finger as if to a naughty child.

"You… oh you… you may think you are cute now, but when you were only four… oh my, you could out cute a baby rabbit at twenty paces and when you turned nine, oh my goodness… blossoms were as rocks in comparison to your beauty and at twelve…"

"ALRIGHT! Alright, I get the message… so… you like me then?"

He sat back down and shrugged "A little."

Astrid hit him again. He deserved it.

"OOWW! I assume that means your gonna kiss me again."

"No, that time I just wanted to hit you."

"Oh well… I guess that makes a change… I suppose… but err… if I do have a choice, I liked it better when you kissed me much more."

"Oh really?" Astrid stood suddenly, turned to face Hiccup and bent down to glare straight into his eyes.

"And who says" she paused for dramatic effect and repeated herself.

"Who says that it always has to be me" she paused again "ME… who kisses… you?"

Hiccup leaned back with fear in his eyes and his mouth open to speak but with nothing yet to say. Very slowly, like treacle in winter, her words began to make their way deep into his mind and a broad smile made its way up his face that was mirrored by Astrid perfectly.

"Oh…OH…" he raised his left hand to touch her face but she jumped back and laughed.

"No you don't dragon boy, it's not gonna be that easy."

Hiccup leapt to his feet… well… foot, and took off after her as she taunted him.

* * *

Stoick the Vast came out of the Great Hall and approached a smiling Sigrid as she stared into the night.

"What on earth is that noise?" he asked in bewilderment.

"That Chief, is the sound of a one-legged dragon rider trying desperately to catch his lady love so he can steal a kiss but he's not doing very well at the moment."

Stoick listened intently and began to snicker at what he heard.

"Oh come on Astrid, please slow down, I've only got one leg."

"Stop whining; you've got one and a half."

"Well what good is that?"

"It's half a leg more than Gobbers got."

"I don't want to catch Gobber, I want to catch you."

Sigrid and Stoick almost fell over with laughter until the Chief managed to compose himself again.

"Would you like to come back in Sigrid? We're about to make a toast… to fallen friends."

She smiled but her eyes did go a little moist as they re-entered the hall.

Astrid thoroughly enjoyed being pursued and although Hiccup never did catch her that night, she did let him get close a few times. For his part, he had a great time trying... and there was always tomorrow.

Hiccup came to a decisive conclusion; 'Life with one leg was gonna be... fun.'

* * *

**And so the story ends and there was much rejoicing but when Hiccup woke up life got more interesting as was shown in 'The Gift Of The Night Fury' so I have decided to keep writing.**

** Act I of 'How to deal with a Seasick Dragon' is alredy up if you would like to have a look. **

**I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed the process of bringing you this story and I do hope it has brought every reader some joy.**

**Thank you for reading and ttfn, Marty. (^-^) p.s. don't forget to let me know what you think (M)  
**


End file.
